Alternate Meetings
by Marie Chambers
Summary: When the Doctor and Rose end up in another parallel universe, things go a little pear-shaped when they meet up with some very familiar faces. How will they deal with a universe where Rose is the Doctor and the Doctor himself is the companion? Especially with the added threat of Torchwood opening dangerous windows between universes?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is already completely written so updates shouldn't be too far apart, at least once a week, maybe sooner if the mood strikes. This is un-beta'd so all mistakes are my own. Also fair warning, while this story is listed under romance/humor, there will also be a fair amount of angst as well, because I can't seem to stay away from it! ****Please leave a review if you are so inclined!**

**Chapter 1: Unexpected Arrival**

The Doctor was in a bit of a sulky mood, like he tended to be when he was wrong about something. It had been a bit jarring, at first, to find that they had somehow landed on another parallel world. Once could be put down to luck, but twice...impossible.

Apparently, though, it wasn't, because here they were. A London much like their own but with small changes littered about here and there. The most prominent being the colors. The world almost seemed brighter here, colors more vibrant and fairy-tale like. The air was cleaner, fresher. Everything seemed so crisp.

While Rose found it charming and was eager to explore all the differences, the Doctor was obviously troubled. He poured over different calculation, checking and double checking all the Tardis's systems. Last time they appeared on a parallel world, she had died on their trip over, only that small crystal clinging to life, but this time was different. She seemed to be completely fine, actually. In tip-top shape really, and this only confused the Doctor more.

"Without other Time Lord's around she shouldn't be able to make this trip at all and she definitely shouldn't be okay now that we're here and I just...don't get it." He flung the view screen around to her gaze despite the fact she didn't understand a word of it.

"None if it makes sense. Look at this! According to this Rose, we can also travel back. No problem. There is like a...a...a window between these two universes that can be opened and closed safely. Technology like that..." His voice trailed off, worried.

Rose only smiled widely. "I think it's time for a little investigating, yeah?" she said, voice giddy at the prospect of a new adventure. The Doctor, while still a touch unsettled, couldn't help but beam in return.

"I guess so," he exclaimed, starting a familiar dance around the console. "If I can triangulate the point of the power source that's keeping this window open, because keeping a window like this open takes an immense amount of power, then we can see what's going on here."

"What d'you think it is?" Rose asked. "Who d'you think could work out how to open doors between universes on their own, where even you couldn't."

The Doctor's eyes darkened a little bit. "I don't know. And I hate it when I don't know something. Having a window between universes open like this is extremely dangerous."

He pulled the view screen around, pressing more buttons without even looking. "Annnd, almost...Got It! Ha!" His dance around the console got more frantic as he worked on chasing down the signal. The Tardis shuddered and the Doctor threw his leg up onto the console in an attempt to steady her.

"She doesn't want to land," the Doctor shouted, over the sound of sparks emitting from the console. "It's weird, she only usually ever does this if there's another Tardis around, but that...can't be it."

"Could it be this universe," Rose shouted, frantically pressing the buttons and flipping the switches that he indicated to her, "like you said before, petrol in a diesel engine?"

"No I've checked all her systems," he said through gritted teeth. By this point he had picked up the mallet, so Rose knew he was getting a bit desperate.

With a lurch and a groan the Tardis landed, throwing them both to the ground. The Doctor quickly dusted himself off and offered a hand to Rose. Once he'd pulled her to her feet, he ran to consult the view screen again. He pulled his glasses on, and squinted at whatever was there.

"Well that's..." he said, trailing off. His voice sounded small and strained. Rose looked over his shoulders at the incomprehensible symbols.

"What is it?" she asked, clueless.

"It...according to this, we _have_ landed in the vicinity of another Tardis," he said, truly flabbergasted.

"Is that even possible? Could there be...Time Lords here. In this universe?" Rose asked softly. She put a comforting hand on his arm.

"I'm not...I mean, weeelll, technically there could be. There were other universes that had Time Lords in them, but those were forbidden to us. Caused too much of a fuss when we intruded on their universes. We tended to stick to alternate realities that branched off specifically from our own universe. We are trans-dimensional creatures and those sub-universes were under our control, so other Time Lords weren't present in them, besides us. Like you saw in the last alternate world we ended up in. Much simpler that way. If...if we are in one of these alternate universes with other Time Lords, weeelll, we really shouldn't be here."

Both of them looked at each other solemnly for a few minutes and then suddenly grinned widely at one another.

"Aww, what the hell!" he said jubilantly. "We've got to get that window closed, anyway. Fancy a peek, Rose Tyler?"

She grinned delightedly, looping their arms together. They sauntered out of the Tardis, the Doctor with his sonic screwdriver already poised at the ready. The room they were in was large and dark, a glass office on one side overlooking the city. Looking out it, they could see it was now dark.

"Must've skipped forward a little bit on accident when the Tardis was acting up. It's nighttime now," The Doctor said, answering her unasked question.

Finding a light switch, the Doctor flipped it on to reveal the room fully. There was a large white wall opposite from the glass room, that for some unknown reason, made Rose shudder a little. Off to both sides of the room were levers. A few desks also littered the room, but other than that it was bare. Rose gripped his arm tighter feeling decidedly unsettled.

"S'room is kinda given me the creeps," Rose admitted as the Doctor scanned the equipment.

"I must say I feel a tad uneasy as well," he said as he fiddled with the sonic.

He scanned the room and then whipped around suddenly and dashed over to a small white box on the wall and pointed the sonic at it. "Just disabling the security," he said brightly. Once done he turned back to the room to continue his scan. The sonic whirred as he ran it all around the room and he paused when he got to the white wall.

"This is definitely our spot," he said at last, as he looked at the blank white wall. "Void stuff, massive amounts of it, all over this wall."

"Void stuff?" Rose asked.

"The void, it's like the space between universes. This void stuff, it's like a...radiation. Traveling through universes like we've done leaves a mark, we're covered in it. Hmm, let's see-" he said, digging through his pocket, elbow deep, "ahh here it is!" Triumphantly he held out a pair of 3-D glasses to her. She looked at him amused.

"Go on then," he said, beaming at her. Laughing, she put on the glasses. The Doctor moved around in front of her, grinning, and she watched as green and red bits moved all around him. She lifted her own hand in fascination as the particles moved about it.

"See! Void stuff. Now if we could just figure out how they're opening this window..." he trailed off, dashing to one of the computers to begin fiddling with it.

"Where are we anyway?" Rose asked, looking about. "Is this some kind of government building? Research facility?"

"Rose Tyler, always asking the right questions. _Who_ is behind this?" He jammed his screwdriver in his mouth as he rapidly broke past firewalls and security defense systems.

"Whoever they are, they're powerful." The Doctor mumbled around the screwdriver. "This is some high tech security. No match for me though, of course. Might take a little bit of time, however." His voice was apologetic.

"How about I look around a little," Rose said, gesturing to the door. "Still haven't figured out what all that business with another Tardis was about, yeah?"

Honestly, Rose had almost forgotten about the other Tardis until just now, and by the Doctor's expression, he had too.

"I don't know, Rose. Maybe we should go together. We don't know what or who is out there."

"Never stopped me before. Or you for that matter. I can handle it," she assured him. He still looked a bit uneasy with the idea, but eventually nodded his consent.

"Just...be careful, yeah," he said, voice serious and tender. "We don't know how these alternate Time Lords are in this universe. If there even is any. For all we know they could be behind this window in the first place. Certainly have the brains for it." He grinned cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah," she said grinning affectionately. "You're a genius. Honestly, sometime I think you only have me around to stroke your ego."

He grinned broadly at her, then quickly pinned her with a serious look. "Really though. Careful."

"I will," she said. He stood up fully to give her a tight hug. "I'll see you later," she told him.

"Not if I see you first." They grinned cheesily at each other and then she was dashing out of the room.

She walked down darkened corridors, peeking into rooms here or there. Mostly it seemed to be some kind of office space, desks everywhere she looked. Eventually she came to a stairwell and made her way down to the ground floor where a big open parlor was located. The words Canary Wharf were written in big, cursive lettering behind what looked to be a visitor's desk. So definitely some kind of office building. Canary Wharf. Sounded vaguely familiar. Perhaps there was a Canary Wharf back in their own universe.

Finding nothing more of interest down here, she made her way back to the stairwell. There were many floors to this building, including the top one where the wall and levers had been, but something told her that those floors weren't where she needed to be looking. On impulse, she made her way down to the basement. When she got there she grinned when she saw the padlock shut door. Bingo. You don't hide just anything behind padlock doors.

It was times like these when she really wished she had her own sonic screwdriver. Grumbling, she took the bobby pin out of her hair and got to work. After a few minutes of intense struggle, she finally heard a snick as the lock opened and she grinned widely. Pushing open the double doors, she strode confidently into the darkened room only to stop dead in her tracks when she flipped on a light switch.

The room was enormous. She couldn't even properly see the back of it. And all around her she was surrounded by alien equipment. Some things she recognized, others she didn't. There were spaceships and gadgets in every direction she looked. Whatever was going on here, it was big.

She walked deeper into the room, truly astonished by the sheer amount of stuff that had been collected up. Her hands lightly breezed over the gadgetry as she passed.

As she journeyed deeper into the room, a flash of blue caught her eyes and she whirled around to see a blue police box off in a corner. Her hand immediately flew to her chest where her Tardis key lay and she lifted it in front of her face with shaking fingers. Tentatively, she stepped forward and inserted the key. Holding her breath, she twisted and was met with resistance. It didn't work. This wasn't their Tardis. Not that she had thought it was, but still best to check.

Rose lay her hand against the door anyway. Could this Tardis just be scrap gathered up like the rest of this stuff? No Time Lords after all? She didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

Suddenly, she felt a comforting pulse in her mind, much like her own Tardis would send to her. It had a different kind of taste to it. It was familiar in the most unfamiliar of ways. Like reuniting with an old friend who had completely changed from how you knew them as a child. Un-mistakingly them, but oh so different. Sort of like a regeneration, really. Still, it was welcoming and loving and she couldn't help but grin.

"Hello, old girl," she said. "Maybe the Doctor will know some way to open you up. You must be lonely down here." Rose felt the Tardis hum in her head. It was almost an amused sound. Rose grinned and with one last affectionate pat, continued down the rows of alien tech.

It wasn't long before she began to pick up the quiet murmurs of someone talking. Heart racing, she quietly crept forward, eager to see if she could get any information from her mysterious company. She ducked expertly behind equipment, creeping forward till the voice got clearer and clearer. She was properly startled when she realized it was the Doctor's voice. How did he get down here so fast? Easing around the spaceship she peeked around the corner. Just to be sure.

The Doctor was standing there, some alien gadget or another in his hand. His expression looked a little confused, which she rarely ever saw on him. He was still muttering to himself, but she couldn't fully make out the words. She was just about to go ask him what he was doing down here, when she realized something was off about him.

It took her a minute to figure out what it was. His suit, while undeniably pinstriped and brown, seemed deeper and richer than she remembered. The cream converse practically glowed and his hair was like dark chocolate, deep and rich and luxurious looking. She could make out more shades of brown in it than she ever had before.

Was this some kind of alternate Doctor, perhaps? He certainly wasn't the man she had left upstairs disabling security systems. It was a definite possibility. The Tardis was just around the corner after all. That seemed like proof enough to her.

The thought made her smile and small thrill of excitement went through her. How similar, she wondered, would this man be to the man she knew? Was he traveling with someone? With her? The prospect was tantalizing, to think that their could be hundreds of parallel worlds out there where she and the Doctor were traveling together.

She was just about to reveal her presence, eager to meet this man, when she quickly pulled herself back. Maybe she should get her Doctor first. Like he'd said, this Doctor here, for all she knew, could be the one behind opening the window in the first place.

As soon as she thought it though, she dismissed the idea. She trusted him, any him, even an alternate universe him. She could feel it in her gut that he was all right. He was probably looking for trouble just as much as they were, she thought with a grin.

Stepping out from behind the ship, he immediately whirled around to face her, eyes going wide. He looked her up and down, a small, confused frown on his face and just as she was about to greet him, he beat her to it.

"Doctor?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Happy Friday! Here's chapter 2 and as you'll see it's not a direct continuation from last time, but hopefully you guys will like it all the same! This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. Also things might look a bit familiar, maybe from last chapter, or from the show. That is definitely intentional! Leave a review if you are so inclined, and thanks to all who reviewed and followed this story last chapter!**

**Chapter 2: The Other Side**

The Doctor was in a really good mood, John noted, so attuned was he to her various temperaments. He knew her like the back of his hand, and today for some reason she seemed inordinately pleased about something.

He was sprawled out on the jump seat, while she, herself, was bent over the grating, searching for something. She hummed to herself pleasantly, and John desperately tried to keep his eyes averted from the thin strip of skin he could see from where her pink hoody had risen up.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "What are you looking for?" If his voice came out a tad higher than normal, well, she didn't say anything about it.

"Remember that Bazoolium you picked up on that market in the Andromeda system? That Asteroid Market?"

He did. He had planned to give it to his father when they went back for a visit, but soon after the purchase, they had gotten into a bit of trouble that had ended with his trousers being confiscated. Even thinking about it now, made him blush. The Doctor had laughed at him the whole time they were running from their captors, once they'd escaped. It had been a tad mortifying having to run all the way back in his pants, especially since that hadn't really been the way he had hoped the Doctor would first see him in just pants...The point was, that since the Bazoolium had been tucked away in his pocket, he had thought it to be lost forever.

"Yeah, but I thought when..." he trailed off, ears going pink. "Weeelll, I thought that it was lost at any rate."

She looked up grinning, palm up, with the little alien gadget in her hand. "Nope," she said, popping the 'p,' "nicked it just before we left."

"Oi, you couldn't have gotten my trousers back too! I had to run all the way back to the Tardis in my pants!" he exclaimed.

She grinned that tongue-touched smile that always made his heart race a little faster and his stomach flip pleasantly. "It was a nice view," she teased. He felt his cheeks heat up, but a pleased smile still made its way to his face.

"So, why are you just giving this to me now?" he asked, taking the alien tech carefully from her hand and cradling it in his palms. The Doctor smiled at him tenderly.

"Saved it to surprise you. Thought we'd take a trip to see your father today," she said, voice nonchalant.

"Really?" he asked disbelievingly. "You want to take a trip to see my father?" He raised an eyebrow.

She gave a cute little half shrug. "S'been a while. Thought you might like to see him. Besides," she said twirling her way to the console to set coordinates, "I'd rather not be yelled at again for never bringing you home."

He was honestly a bit touched. Usually the Doctor groaned and sulked when he asked to be taken back for a visit. Still he couldn't resist teasing her. "Not too domestic for you?"

He was even more surprised when she turned around and pierced him with a suddenly serious stare. "Domestic with you... That's not so bad." She immediately turned back to the console and all he could do was stare at her back in openmouthed shock.

It was times like those that always threw him. When the Doctor let him in, just that smallest bit, said something just a little daring, and then immediately closed off again. He could still hear the words I was a mother once ringing in his ears.

Still it couldn't be said that John didn't know his place. He kept his mouth firmly shut, while she avidly studied the console and flicked switches in such a concentrated manner that he knew she wasn't really doing anything besides avoiding him. It made his heart give a little pang, desperate for her to just talk to him for real.

John sighed, defeated.

When the Tardis landed, the Doctor was immediately back to her usual self. She grabbed his hand pulling him out the door with her usual exuberance.

As they walked along hand in hand, John quickly started to get the feeling that something was a bit off. He looked around the little park they had landed in, a place he had been to thousands of times as a kid. There were trees in the corner, with birds chirping away happily. The sky was a deep vibrant blue with fluffy, white clouds doting it here and there. Laughter could be heard from the children running about. Various couples were walking closely together, hands clasped. The day seemed to be absolutely perfect really, so he wasn't sure why he felt so uneasy.

"Does...something seem weird to you?" he asked looking down at her.

He could already see in her face that she had been unsettled by something as much as him. She smacked her lips together, then inhaled deeply. "The air," she said. "It's..fresh." He was a bit surprised by this sudden turn in the conversation.

"Fresh?" he asked, confusion lacing the tone. "What d'you mean?"

"Usually there's all kinds of particles and pollutions floating around that I can detect, with my superior senses. I'm not getting anything though. The air is very, very clean. Too clean. Almost fifty percent of the normal pollution has been eliminated! There isn't the technology for something like that in your time," she said, shaking her head a little.

"Trouble?" John asked, with a small grin. The Doctor looked up and her worried expression shifted to an enthusiastic grin.

"Trouble indeed!" she said. "C'mon then, best not keep your father waiting. That's when the real trouble will begin." With that she pulled him along with a delighted laugh towards the Powell estate.

When they knocked, his father opened the door with a huge grin on his face. "John! I thought I heard that infernal blue box!" he exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. John grinned. "Hey, Dad."

The Doctor had tried to ease past them into the flat, but his father was having none of it. He was released abruptly and he watched in amusement as his dad grabbed the Doctor's arm pulling her back to face him. "Oh no you don't. Come here, sweetheart." He gave her a big, showy kiss on the cheek and then released her, heading back to the kitchen, shouting, "I'll just put the kettle on."

John laughed when he saw her disgusted face and her hand came up quickly to wipe at her cheek. He could also see a hint of amusement and affection in her eyes, so he knew secretly she enjoyed being apart of his little family (which secretly thrilled him too). John also couldn't help a tiny part of him feeling a tad nonplussed that his father had gotten to kiss her before he had.

Pushing that thought far out of his mind, John made his way to the kitchen with the Doctor hot on his heels. His father already had steaming mugs set at the table and John took his gratefully.

They chatted pleasantly for a few minutes, recounting (edited) stories to his father of their travels. They heard a little about what his father had been up to while they were gone. But John, who had been watching the Doctor out of the corner of his eye, could tell she was still thinking about whatever was going on with the air. She was fidgety and restless as they exchanged pleasantries. He could tell she was about to crack.

"Tell me," the Doctor began suddenly to his father. "Do you happen to know why the air outside is so fresh? Anything...weird lately?" His father actually laughed.

"Ahh that's nothing, sweetheart." John could see her face tighten a little like it always did when his dad called her that. "Just a new bill that was passed for cleaner air. Apparently this company, uhh, don't really know what it's called, but they've developed some kind of machine that helps with the pollution. S'not that big of a deal. Great really, haven't had to deal with any allergies since!"

The Doctor did not look convinced. She looked downright troubled actually. "No, but you see even if they had built some kind of machine that gets rid of pollution...these results, this kind of removal is much too great for any technology built in your time."

His father rolled his eyes. "Ahh, c'mon Doctor can't you just let a good thing be for once? No trouble in having a bit fresher air."

"No," the Doctor said, voice like steel. "I don't think you understand. To remove pollution like that...That's fearsome technology. Technology that can't be from this time. Whoever's behind this...who knows what else they have planned."

"It's just the air, though. It's a good thing!" his father said, clearly frustrated.

John was about to interject that maybe they should both calm down a little when the Doctor quickly spoke over him.

"Have you ever even questioned it? Been given any details about it? Who's doing it or how they're doing it? Or did you all just blindly buy into it, as per usual? Humans." She muttered the last word under her breath.

His father seethed a little, but said nothing. "Doctor," John said softly.

She sighed. "Look I'm sorry, really. But we can't just ignore this. I'm going to check the news and see if there's any information. You two can catch up."

With that she made her way back into the living room, flipping the television on with the sonic.

"She's a bit feisty today," his father quipped. John shook his head a little, small smile on his face.

"She was in such a good mood earlier," he remarked.

"Oh," his father said slyly. "And why was that, then?" The suggestion in his voice was clear and John blanched.

"I've told you," he said, vehemently. "It's not like that."

"What am I supposed to think you two get up to in that big blue box of yours?" he said, smirking. John felt himself blushing deeply.

"Shh," he hissed. "She'll hear you."

"Nah," his father waved it off, "she's too busy playing hero."

John suddenly stiffened. "But she is a hero," he said resolutely, a touch of awe lacing his tone. "You should see the things she's done. The planets she's saved. Earth especially. We wouldn't be here without her. Its-she is amazing. And she shares it all with me. How did I get so lucky?"

His father raised his eyebrow and gave him a knowing look. "I have a feeling, John, that she considers herself pretty lucky too," he said. John shrugged and looked away.

"I'd do anything for her," John finally said, his voice a mere whisper. "I don't...I don't know what I would do if she left me back on Earth again. I need her."

"You're in love with her," his father said gently. "I know. I've known that all along, really." John said nothing, only glanced at the Doctor to make sure she wasn't paying attention to them. She wasn't, engrossed as she was in the telly, muttering to herself.

"She's my best friend," he finally said quietly. His dad gave him a sympathetic pat on the hand.

Conversation dissolved into a mercifully lighter topic, however, John couldn't focus much on the exchange, his mind drifting to the Time Lady in the other room, as tended to happen. He liked to imagine that they were on the same page, that she cared for him as much as he cared for her. The hand-holding and innumerable hugs and the banter, that all had to mean something, right? It wasn't all just in his head? His dad certainly seemed to think it wasn't. This was hardly the first time his father had commented in this manner on their relationship.

"John," the Doctor called out suddenly from the living room a few minutes later, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Come look at this."

He stood up immediately, almost knocking his chair over. His father looked at him amused as he quickly made his way to the living room. She indicated the screen where the news was on. There was a tall building being shown and on the bottom of the screen, the words 'Canary Wharf' were flashing.

"They claim it's where this Revolutionary Environmental Depreciator is located. RED for short," she said by way of explanation. "Rubbish name if you ask me. Anyway, the company in charge of it is still not being named. Classified, although they won't say as much. They're giving just enough information to keep people happy, to keep people from asking questions." She pierced his father with a smug look. "How can you say that's not suspicious?"

John's father rolled his eyes. "I guess that means the two of you will be swanning off again. Hardly a visit at all really," he said in a small voice.

The Doctor looked up with a guilty expression on her face. John jumped in before she could say anything. "If the Doctor thinks this needs to be checked out, then we really should check it out. I'm sorry, but I promise we will come right back once we get this sorted."

His father only nodded, still looking a tad upset over the whole thing. Desperately, John tried to think of some way to appease him until they could make it back and just like that a thought suddenly popped into his head.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I almost forgot. I brought you something!" He pulled the small gadget carefully out of his pocket and held it out to his father as a bit of a peace offering. "It's called a bazoolium," he explained excitedly, "got it on this little market. It can tell what the weather's going to be. If it's cold, it'll rain. If it's hot, it'll be sunny. Isn't that brilliant!"

His father gave him a loving smile. "Yeah, it is. Thank you." They hugged each other tightly, while the Doctor restlessly tapped her foot in the background. "Now go on then. You best be off before that one wears a hole in my carpet."

The Doctor looked up a little sheepishly, then held out her hand to him. He took it without hesitation. "C'mon John," she said brightly.

His father stopped them before they could make it out the door, looking directly at the Doctor. "You take care of him now. You keep him safe." John groaned inwardly in embarrassment, but the Doctor stopped in her tracks and met his father's eyes. Something like understanding passed between them.

"You have my word," she said seriously. Apparently satisfied, his dad nodded. John had to swallow down a sudden lump in his throat.

"So," the Doctor said brightly, breaking the suddenly tense atmosphere (she was rather good at that really) "Canary Wharf?"

"Canary Wharf," he agreed.

They wore matching smiles as they made their way back to the Tardis. Once there, the Doctor fell into motion around the console, bouncing around in a dance only she knew. As per usual he tried his best to keep his eyes (mostly) to himself.

"We should probably arrive in the cover of night," she said. "We can be proper spies, poke around a bit and see what we can find first."

"Well," John said seriously, "lucky for us that we have a time machine." Her answering grin was like the sun.

When the Tardis had finished materializing, the ride as bumpy as usual, they stepped out into a cavernous room. John gazed up at the large spacecrafts that filled the room, squinting his eyes a little to make it out in the dark.

"Hmm, just a sec," the Doctor said, digging around her pocket. "Ahh, here!" she said triumphantly. She was holding a flashlight, beaming at him proudly. She flicked it on and beamed it around the room.

"Wow," John said as he looked around at all the alien tech. "This place is filled to the brim. Look at all this stuff!" The Doctor looked around warily, obviously on edge.

"This is-" she started in an incredulous whisper, but trailed off, seemingly unable to finish the thought as she continued moving the flashlight around the room. Abruptly she turned to John. "Who," she said gobsmacked, "is hoarding up all this stuff? This is all different planets. All different times. This could be catastrophic!"

John nodded solemnly for a moment, then unable to help himself any longer, grinned widely. "Seems like a job for us," he said lightly, unwavering in his faith in her.

"Yeah," she agreed, with a small tongue touched smile, the light coming back to her eyes. They looked around for a bit, the Doctor exclaiming over this and that, occasionally pocketing a gadget here and there, or stopping him from touching something explosive once or twice. Suddenly, however, she startled out of the corner of his eye. Her face white as a sheet. "Doctor?" he questioned.

"All right," she said, turning to him suddenly, a serious, wide-eyed expression on her face. "I think we need to split up. The machine would probably need a larger room, perhaps on the upper floors, with windows and such, but just in case you keep looking down here. Just anything that looks suspicious, let me know about. I'll search the upper levels." Her voice was going quicker and quicker as she explained, her eyes darting around like mad. She only babbled on like that if she was nervous. Or lying.

While John normally would've jumped on a chance to wander off and find out anything that could help, this felt deliberately like she was shifting him off while she went and handled things. Dangerous things if her behavior was anything to go by. Her and his father's words were still ringing in his ears.

_Keep him safe._

_You have my word._

"Can't we just stick together on this one, Doctor," he asked, suddenly desperate. There was no way the Doctor was going to do this to him again. He was her partner. Her equal. Her best friend. And he couldn't leave her, not if their was danger involved. As much as he needed her, sometimes he suspected she needed him too.

Her face was positively stern though, brooking no arguments. "Let me check it out," she said. "I promise I'll come get you if I find anything."

He grumbled under his breath in annoyance, but finally relented. He wanted to argue back, but she seemed so on edge, so ready to snap that he uncharacteristically decided he should probably back off on this one. He recognized a losing battle when he saw one. "Now c'mere you," she said, voice going tender. She pulled him into a tight hug and he buried his face into her neck.

"Be careful," he said, voice slightly muffled. She chuckled. "Of course I will. Now," she said extracting herself from his arms, "I'll see you later."

"Not if I see you first," he answered softly. And with that she smiled, tossed him the flashlight, and then took off.

He sighed and busied himself with snooping around a bit, picking up the odd gadget here or there. Curiously, he opened a cardboard box he came across and blushing, he found that packets of intergalactic condoms filled it, and then blushing even harder, he actually considered taking some. Just in case. He sighed and closed the box. He couldn't even begin to imagine the conversation to be had if she ever found them. He moved on, muttering a little to himself about frustrating Time Ladies as he ran his fingers over various alien tech.

Time seemed to pass slowly as he ambled around the room, studying various equipment. He smiled whenever he came across something he recognized. He was a bit good with technology, and normally he would have been delighted to see and explore all the gadgets. However, as minutes passed he became increasingly worried about the Doctor. She had been gone for awhile now, at least twenty minutes...

He about dropped his flashlight when the lights in the room suddenly flickered on.

His heart was racing and he looked around wearily. The room was so large, it could have come from anywhere. Guards, maybe? They hadn't seen any so far, but he couldn't rule it out. He proceeded warily in the room, assuring himself that he could hide or run if it came to it. Hopefully, it was just the Doctor returning. She could have turned on the lights. That would be the best case scenario, but he still kept his ear peeled for any source of disturbance.

He tried to battle the worries tumbling around in his brain, push them to the side, but they were resilient. He picked up another stray piece of tech looking for a distraction, some odd little gizmo with sharp angles and odd knobs attached. Examining it, he was suddenly startled by a noise off to his right. He whipped around quickly, ready to run if needed, but instead was immensely relieved to see the Doctor.

He squinted his eyes a little. She looked a bit odd for some reason. He tilted his head trying to place what it was. While she still had on a pink hoody and jeans, something seemed different about their styling. And the colors looked positively dull now. She was studying him curiously and he wondered what in the world was going on.

"Doctor?" he questioned.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here we go, chapter 3! Thanks to everyone reading and everyone who has reviewed! Not beta'd so again, all mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 3: Strange Encounters**

The Doctor's heart was racing, her palms sweating, as she walked away from John. It had been a long time since she had felt this truly anxious. They had been looking around that room for little over an hour, when there had quite suddenly been a flash, a niggling in the back of her mind, one that had instantly set her on edge. She had tried to convince herself that it was nothing, but it became harder and harder to ignore the familiar, if minuscule, presence in her head. It was definitely another Time Lord. Moreover, there was only one Time Lord left that it could be, she thought bitterly. Because she was the last one left.

However, the feeling in her mind had almost been more of an echo. A resonance. And usually when she met up with other incarnation of herself, there was no mental contact whatsoever. It was strange indeed that this future (well she assumed future) self was able to put forth even this very subtle, almost undetectable feeling in her head.

However, a whole number of things could account for the contact, so there was no use panicking over it or inadvertently worrying John (though she suspected he was worried anyway). Her other self's defenses could be down, weakened for whatever reason. Or she-her future self-could be experiencing great emotional or physical trauma that could be projecting the weak contact (she didn't want to think about that idea too closely). Or simply, her future self could have some object that enhanced telepathic connections. That choice seemed to be the most pleasant, really.

She knew John would be upset that she had left him behind down in the basement. He loathed when she did that. Her lovely John, always so terrified she was going to leave him behind for good. It was a thought that plagued her often, whether she should drop him off back home or not. She didn't know if she really had the strength to even do it and that was what scared her the most. It would be undeniably better and safer for him, she knew. He deserved that normal human life. However, he would be absolutely livid with her if he ever caught wind that that is what she was thinking; leaving him behind to keep him safe. She could already practically see him standing in front of her, vibrating with emotion (anger and fear and love), as he told her that this was the life he wanted. That he knew the dangers when he started. That he believed in her, knew she would keep him safe. That even if she couldn't he would never regret coming with her.

It was terrifying even just thinking about it; his utter devotion to her. How had this wonderful, brilliant human gotten so close to her? She had always been so careful in the past. Kept her distance. She was starting to get careless, reckless even in what she said to him. Where had her perfect control gone?

It was easier for now, though, if he just stayed down there in that basement while she handled this. There was a chance that this future incarnation wasn't traveling with John anymore. A strong chance considering the span of her life. He always got so sad when he was reminded that their life spans didn't match up. That the illusion he could stay with her forever was just that...An illusion.

The Doctor sighed. It was rather hard for her to think about as well.

Sonic screwdriver in hand, she scanned the area one more time to make sure the readings were accurate. She sighed again when it was confirmed. There was definitely another Tardis in the area. Only the readings were a little funny, the signature of the future Tardis didn't match up with the signature of her own Tardis. They were close in nature, but there was a slight nuance between them, almost undetectable really, but still very much there. Something was definitely off and as she looked closer at the findings it became clearer and clearer that this other Tardis was definitely not hers. Every Tardis had such a distinct print, a bio-signature, and this one was too different in ways it definitely couldn't be. Which meant...

That was...Oh that...she didn't know what that was. Another Time Lord? Besides her? Could she even dare to hope?

Now she was really glad she had left John behind. With nervousness surging through her, she hopped along, deciding to snoop around the old-fashioned way. There were so many floors, and she took her time going through them, searching for the machine that they had come here in search for in the first place as well. She did still have to save the world after all.

There were many different offices, many different labs that she might have to look more carefully through later. Everything was neat and organized, and that made it easy for her to figure out what the mysterious name of this company was. Torchwood. Vaguely she could remember hearing about it somewhere, but the specifics were lost to her at the moment. She was slipping a bit in her old age, she thought drily.

When she was almost to the top floor where the signature was leading her, the presence in her head grew stronger. There was an almost familiar edge to it that made her a tad nervous, but still she couldn't place it.

So, she was quite suitably shocked when she opened the door to a big white room and saw John. The room was mostly bear, an office off in the back and a few smaller desks with computers placed behind two ominous looking levers. John, himself, was currently crouched over one of the computers, sonic screwdriver in hand (she looked down at her own in shock for a moment before looking back at him), and he was quite obviously frustrated. He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.

So maybe she'd been wrong on many different levels today. Maybe it was a future her, possibly even still in the same incarnation, traveling with John. Maybe her screwdriver was off for some reason or another and that's why she was getting such weird results (she was loathe to admit it, but it was still possible). Maybe there wasn't any weird feeling or readings at all and she had just gone nuts. She almost laughed self-deprecatingly at herself. There were no other Time Lords, she had made sure of that.

It was always a bit insane to come across future versions of herself and meet up with future companions, but never before had she met up with a future version of a companion she was still traveling with. The situation was definitely very delicate.

She watched curiously as he tinkered with the machinery, getting past firewalls and security systems. He was good with technology, she knew, but damn that was some impressive hacking he was doing there on some very complex codings. He also had some glasses on that she had never seen him wear before and...she really needed to focus here.

Suddenly, eyes processing what was happening on the screen, she realized he was about to make a very big mistake. A back up virus, that while he was so focused on breaking through other encryptions, was about to erase all the files before he could get to them.

"John!" she said urgently, ignoring his look of utter shock when he looked at her. His mouth gaping. "Move," she demanded, pushing him out of the way quickly. He landed back on his bum and in one swift motion she took her own screwdriver and went about destroying the virus in a series of highly complicated steps. Once done, she smiled at him triumphantly where he was still sprawled on the ground with his eyes about to pop out of his skull. Heh, she had always kind of liked that look on him.

He sputtered at her. "W-wha...wha-"

She grinned smugly. "There was a virus. You missed it. Didn't want all your hard work to go to waste," she said, flipping the screwdriver in her hand. "I must say though I am rather impress-" she trailed off, getting a good look at him. "What the hell is wrong with your suit?"

He sputtered again. "Wha-my suit? Nothing!" he said looking down at himself and then back at her indignantly.

"It's so," she gestured vaguely with her hands, "dull."

He looked at her, eyebrow raising in a familiar gesture as if he was just now taking in her appearance. His expression turned quizzical. "And your clothes are very...bright."

She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled anyway and slowly he grinned back. She offered a hand to help him up. Once he was standing he suddenly had his hands on her shoulders and was looking into her eyes intensely. She winced a little in surprise of his quick movement. "Rose," he said, "there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, like the fact that you called me 'John' and the fact that your clothes are flashing brighter than a neon sign. But really most importantly...How the hell did you do that with the computer? You're terrible with computers!"

"Oi," she said, shrugging his hands off her shoulders and crossing her arms. "Who're you calling terrible with computers? You might be good with them, yeah, but you are nowhere near the level I just saw a second ago. And don't call me Rose. I hate it when you do that."

He sputtered again. Seemed like he did that a lot here in the future, if her initial guess was right and this was a future him. A future him that apparently knew how to hack systems secured by protections centuries ahead of his time. And that wore this terribly dull suit now. Which begged the question where her future self was at.

"Where am I, anyway?" she asked, peering at him curiously. He looked at her like she might just need to be put in a mental hospital and she really didn't appreciate it.

"You're...right in front of me?" he tried hesitantly. She rolled her eyes at him. Daft, man.

"I mean the future me. You're obviously not my John. I left him down in the basement, in a proper colored suit and normal computer tech abilities, thank you very much."

He scrutinized her, warily. "Rose are you trying to pull some kind of joke right now, cause you're really starting to freak me out. Why do you keep calling me John?" He put a hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling all right? Not possessed again are ya?"

She huffed. "If I remember correctly, you were the one who got possessed first, yeah? And seriously call me Rose one more time and you are going to get a smack."

This seemed to get through to him because he took a step back from her. "Why can't I call you Rose. That's your name. I always call you Rose. What's gotten into you?" he demanded, from his safe distance away from her.

"Are you or are you not a future John?" she asked getting frustrated. "Did you sneak up here or something when I told you not to? No, that can't be it, the Tardis is right there. You have to be from a future timeline. Or well," her mind flashed back to the weird readings and the strange presence in her head the had only gotten stronger (and that she had been adamantly trying to ignore) and she tried to wrap her mind around what was going on here. Something was not adding up.

Suddenly the man in front of her eyes widened in realization. "Oh," he breathed. "Oh, I am so thick!"

"What! What is it?" How in the world had he figured it out before her?

"I should have know by the clothes really. You're from this universe, aren't you?" he said, peering at her closely. She looked at him like he had just dribbled down his shirt. "Well, yeah. Are you telling me you're not?" She raised an eyebrow

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p,' much like she, herself, liked to do. "But you are!" His voice was excited. "An alternate Rose in this universe. Although, apparently you don't like to be called that. Which really doesn't make much sense because it's a lovely name-" at her murderous look he trailed off, "Anyway, there most be a parallel me here you're traveling with if this conversation is anything to go by. Oh, that's completely brilliant, that is!"

"You're telling me, you've dropped in from another universe?"

"Yup! By accident, really. Your universe is opening up a window to ours and we slipped through. A window like that's pretty dangerous stuff, as I'm sure your well aware, so Rose'n I were doing some investigating. I assume that's why you and your Doctor are here."

Her expression grew slightly confused. "No," she corrected him, "that's why John and I are here."

He looked at her with a slightly befuddled expression. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"No, no," she said, "you said _you and your Doctor_."

"Yeah, well, same thing, really. I assume he's still the Doctor, even if he is going by John for some unfathomable reason. Earlier, Rose and I were getting readings that there was another Tardis in the vicinity, so it makes sense."

"Oh," she said as something clicked into place in her head. "Are you the Doctor? In your universe?"

He looked exasperated. "Honestly what do you think we've been talking about? My Rose is a lot quicker with these things. I told you, parallel universe, parallel selves, and like I said I know there's another Tardis here so obviously he's still a Time Lord. John though, really? You call him John?" His face scrunched up in disgust.

The blonde-haired Doctor couldn't help it, she busted out laughing, clutching her side in hysterics. "Oh my god," she said. "You're the Doctor." Then she doubled over, giggling hysterically.

"Hey," he pouted, and that just set her off again. "Stop that!"

She grabbed onto his shoulder for support to keep from falling to the ground in a fetal position. This was just too funny. When she finally collected herself enough to wipe the tears from her eyes, she looked up at him and patted his arm.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," she said unable to hold back a snicker. "I don't think you understand though. My John is most definitely not the Doctor and most definitely not a Time Lord. He's completely human."

He looked at her startled and took a small step back, realization dawning in his eyes. "Then, who...who are you?"

She smiled. "I'm the Doctor."

She couldn't help letting loose more peals of laughter at his expression.

The man in front of her, the Doctor (and god that was just too good), looked like he was about ready to fall over in shock. She really wished she had a camera to take a picture of the expression on his face. She was sure his _Rose_ would appreciate it. And how weird was that, thinking of herself as a _human_ traveling with John, as the Doctor. Really, really weird.

She sobered up again when her mind flashed back to the reason they were here and as she thought about what the man in front of her just told her about the windows being opened between universes. There were definitely some issues that needed to get taken with this Torchwood lot and time was ticking away rapidly.

"We need to figure out what's going on with this window, then. If it's open like you said it is, that could put a lot of strain on both of our worlds," she said abruptly, switching gears.

He still looked a little sick to his stomach, pale as a sheet, but finally snapping himself out of it, said, "Agreed," and dashed back to the computer. "Thanks by the way. Saved my arse, really." He motioned to the computer for emphasis. "Can't really expect anything less from me, though. Even a parallel me, that looks exactly like my companion. Which is still really freaking me out, just so you know." He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"You're welcome," she said laughing a little. "And trust me when I say it's weird for me too. You're like him in some ways, in some mannerisms, but at the same time you're like me, aren't you? A Time Lord."

He looked up at her and a deep understanding passed between them, the two wanderers who knew what it was like to experience eternity, the death of their species, and the never-ending expanse of the universe-the good and the bad. They looked away quickly.

"You're like Rose too, in some ways," he said lightly, breaking the tension. "She definitely would have laughed at me like that if she understood something before I did," he admitted.

"Speaking of...before we get started on this, we might want to go find them. Imagine if they ran into each other. I don't even want to think about how that conversation would go. Besides, John's pretty jeopardy friendly. Best not to leave him on his own too long."

"Rose, too."

"All right, that's settled then."

Both of them instinctively thrust their hands out to each other. They collided roughly and both of them pulled their respective hand back quickly, rubbing it.

"This is really very weird," the brown-haired Doctor reiterated.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry this one's coming up so late tonight. I ended up doing a lot of editing on this chapter cause I wasn't happy with it. I feel a lot better about it now so I hope you guys like it. Remember to review :)**

**Chapter 4: Meeting Up**

Rose was certain she must have misheard. There was no way he just called her 'Doctor.'

"What?" she squeaked. How eloquent of her.

"Doctor," the Doctor, or well, the man said again, since apparently he was under the impression that _she_ was the Doctor, "are you quite all right?" His voice was a touch anxious and he flitted his eyes over her nervously.

So, she had definitely not misheard him. She didn't know quite what to do with that.

"I'm not-" she started, unsure of how to go about this, whatever _this_ was. "I'm not...that is...My name is Rose."

He looked at her for a moment like she had grown another head, then threw back his own head and laughed, clutching his sides.

"Are you having me on?" he giggled delightedly. "You never let me call you that, no matter how hard I try."

"No, I mean really! My name is Rose. I was actually kind of under the impression that _you_ were the Doctor," she admitted. "Well, an alternate Doctor, but the Doctor nonetheless. From a parallel world."

He looked at her blankly. "All right, come off it now, Doctor. I'm not falling for that. Alternate Doctor? Really? Are you sure this isn't some elaborate joke?"

"No, it's not! I'm from a parallel world. The Doctor and I, we kind of slipped through this crack, this open window into this world, your world I guess."

"The Doctor? You travelled to a parallel world with someone called the Doctor?" He raised his eyebrow at her skeptically.

"Yeah. I'm traveling with this man called the Doctor, but see he looks exactly like you. It's uncanny really. I thought you were his parallel self here or something. I mean...I saw the Tardis?" She gestured back in that general vicinity weakly, then she bit her lip, worried. Perhaps this man had no clue what she was talking about, was just a normal bloke and here she was spouting some crazy story about parallel worlds to him. "You...do know about parallel worlds?" she asked hesitatingly.

"Went to one just last week...relatively," he said flippantly. "Seeing as I'm still not convinced you're not playing some joke on me, you should know that, Doctor. Tardis broke down, yeah? Made me dress up as a waiter, you did." Rose blinked. That sounded an awful lot like...things started to click in place for Rose. He wasn't the Doctor, she realized, but he travelled _with_ the Doctor. He was the companion. Which meant he was calling her Doctor because to him, in this universe...Oh blimey.

"Look," Rose said. "I'm telling you. I'm not the Doctor. In my universe, _you're_ the Doctor. I guess here it must be opposite." Rose's mind boggled even as she spoke her suspicions out loud to him. He still was looking at her unbelievingly and she grasped for a way to convince him that she was telling the truth.

"Ah!" she said, when inspiration struck. "Here I can prove it. Feel my heartbeat." She took a step closer to him and John regarded her approach warily.

"Doctor..." he started, voice bellying his reluctance. Rose groaned frustrated. "Just do it!" she said, taking his hand in hers and placing them on either side so that he could feel that she only had one heart. His eyes opened wide as she fixed his hands on her, his fingers having no choice but to lightly skim the tops of her breasts. She noticed that he had frozen up, his face completely red. She waited until he calmed down enough to notice the absence of a second beat and watched his mouth form a surprised 'o' when he did.

"You're human. You're telling the truth," he said, eyes wide. She nodded. His hands fell away from her limply.

"So, let me get this straight," he said, voice wavering only slightly. "In your universe, _I'm_ the Doctor and you travel with me. And your name is Rose?"

Rose's eyebrows crinkled, "...Yeah. Bit crazy isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Well, I've seen some pretty weird stuff. Shouldn't really be so surprised. I guess it could be possible. A parallel world where I don't travel with you, but you travel with me! Where I'm the Time Lord!"

She regarded him curiously. The similarities between him and her own Doctor were truly striking. She never imagined that she would meet a version of him from another universe.

"What's your name then? In this universe, if you're not the Doctor?" she asked almost hesitatingly, feeling a tad unsure about the whole situation.

"John," was his reply. She almost rolled her eyes. Of course. Things weren't really that different then, which was somewhat comforting.

"Should have guessed that really."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at her in a familiar gesture. She laughed.

"Yeah, you, well my you, goes by that sometimes when we're undercover on Earth," she offered by way of explanation.

"Ahh, I see." There was a brief awkward pause.

"And I assume your Rose then. Funny that. Tried to call the Doctor, my Doctor that is, that name once or twice. She wasn't really a fan. Sometimes I call her it now just to bug her," He said smirking a little. Rose sniffed. "Well I happen to think it's a brilliant name, thanks."

John spluttered. "Yes, yes of course it is!" he spoke rapidly, arms gesticulating as if the movements would help to explain himself better. She giggled. His human self seemed to fluster much more easily than her own Doctor did, which was slightly amusing.

"Wow this is really very strange," Rose said for lack of anything else to say.

"Yeah, that covers it really," he agreed, giving a sort of half-laugh and shuffling nervously.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy to think about really. I couldn't imagine being the Doctor!" The thought was almost laughable to her, if she were honest. She was startled, however, by the suddenly intense look on his face.

"I couldn't imagine you not being," he admitted quietly, then looked away from her, "well, my you."

She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. It was very easy to see where he was coming from. Like her, he had been stolen away by someone who changed his whole life so completely. Like being caught in this whirlwind, and left breathless at the beauty of the universe. Why would he want to change or alter one minute of that? She herself wasn't able to imagine it happening any other way. A world where she didn't have the life she had with the Doctor, with the man whose look-alike was standing right in front of her. She gave him a tentative smile.

"I know what you mean," she said. He looked up at her and gave a small smile in return when their eyes connected.

"So," Rose said, trying to lighten the mood a little, "tell me, how I am as a Time Lady? Pretty brilliant, I reckon." She gave him a tongue-touched grin.

"You are," he said, his voice so earnest and sincere and stripped bare of all the control and fear that held her own Doctor back, and she couldn't help the way her heart clenched in her chest. Is this how she looked to her Doctor, she wondered? So open and obvious in her admiration and her love for him?

"You are too," she whispered past the lump in her throat. "My Doctor, I mean."

They looked at each other for a long moment and Rose knew both of them were so utterly in the same position as one another. She could see it in his eyes, knew the feeling all to well of that bone deep, every fiber of your being, unconditional love for another.

This time he tried to lighten the mood. "So, tell me," he said, tongue touching the top of his teeth in a familiar gesture that she couldn't help smiling widely at, "are clothes in your universe always so boring."

Her eyes danced in something akin to amusement as she regarded him. "Oi, you're going to get a smack. Rude, you are. God, you're so much like him in some ways."

She noticed him imperceptibly move backwards out of hitting range. Some things never changed, she supposed, no matter what universe one was in.

"Like you're one to talk. You're a lot like my Doctor too. Like that thing you do, with your tongue..." he trailed off, blushing violently. Rose had never seen her own Doctor blush before, and to look at this man before her, who looked just like him do so...she decided she quite liked the color on his cheeks. It was a pity really that her own Doctor seemed to be immune to it or something.

"What thing?" she asked teasingly, unconsciously poking her tongue out of the side of her smile.

"That!" he said, pointing at her. "The whole-" he trailed off, trying to imitate it and she laughed, clutching her sides at his expression. He pouted.

She sighed a little wistfully. "I can't believe you even noticed that really." He only blushed harder at her at words, mumbling unintelligibly to himself. "It's too bad my Doctor doesn't notice stuff like that."

John looked slightly embarrassed, but said, voice slightly choked, "I can assure you that he notices." Her face heated up at his words, but she still waved the comment off.

"Nah, honestly I'm starting to think that he might be asexual or something."

The man in front of her snorted. "Tell me about it."

Suddenly, they both couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Oh my god," Rose huffed, between laughs, grabbing his shoulder to steady herself. "We should exchange tips or something." This set her off again and John chuckled right along with her.

"We should!" he exclaimed. "It could be a self help book. How to get in your Time Lord or Lady's pants. Instant bestseller."

Rose had tears streaming down her face she was laughing so hard, and John wasn't much better off. They were bent over each other laughing, using the other as support. Over their steady laughter, they missed the sound of trainers slapping against the floor as the teo Doctor's appeared, somewhat breathless and regarded the laughing pair

The brown-haired Doctor looked at the blonde-haired Doctor with a bewildered expression before looking back at the two laughing together. When John and Rose caught sight of their confused expressions, they pointed and bursted into more laughter, clutching at each other to keep from falling to the floor in hysterics.

"I knew it would be bad if they found each other," John's Doctor said grumbling. Her mouth was tight and her eyes flashed dangerously as she watched John and Rose continue to giggle like children. She crossed her arms, obviously displeased.

Rose's Doctor meanwhile was pouting at them. "What?" he whined. This only set them off more.

"Oi now. C'mon you two," John's Doctor snapped. "We have some work to do, I should think. No more time for gossip."

John was able to pull himself back together first. "Oh, like you two haven't been," he said, grinning at her. Her anger immediately seemed to dissolve away as they looked at one another. The blonde-haired Doctor rolled her eyes at him affectionately. Rose watched the exchange with sudden interest. Looking at them, was more than a bit odd. That was what her and the Doctor looked like together, she realized with wonder. It was the first time she had been outside it like this, and it was a little bit disorienting. It was like a whole bubble had been built around the two of them, that no one else could get into. Is that what everyone was talking about? Mickey and her Mum and Jack. The way the pair seemed to unconsciously gravitate towards each other, adjust every little movement according to the others. It was spellbinding to watch.

Her own Doctor came to lace their fingers together and she almost jumped out of her skin at the light touch, startled out of her musing. "Hello," he said, smiling brightly at her.

"Hello," she said, making sure to touch her tongue to the corner of her smile. You know, just in case.

"This is a little weird, even for us," he said.

"Yeah. It really is," she agreed. She looked at the other her. A Time Lady, she thought with disbelief.

"I mean look at me. I'm all...human," he said with a hint of disgust.

"Oi, he's not so bad. A lot like you in some ways."

"So's she," he admitted, gesturing to the other her.

"So I've heard," she said slyly, not about to lose out on an opportunity to tease him. "Apparently we both do the same thing with our tongues when we smile. According to that one at least." She looked at him from the corner of her eye to see him swallow thickly.

"Yes, well..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

She laughed, delighted with his reaction.

"So," Rose said a little louder so the other two would hear her. They turned to look at her curiously. "What's the plan?" She looked around at all of them, giving momentary pause when her and her other self's eyes met. It was a bit uncomfortable to have her own eyes pierced so intently on her and she looked away, eyes focusing more comfortably on her own Doctor.

"Weeelll," two voices started then cut off immediately, glaring at one another. Rose had to laugh a little at that, glancing at the smirk on John's face. She noticed him also eyeing his look alike curiously.

"Well," her Doctor said a little more firmly. "Once I've taken a look at the information on the computer, I'll be able to see how they're keeping this window open and should be able to figure out a way to shut it down with relative ease. Should also be able to keep a temporary opening that'll close once Rose and I have slipped back through to our universe."

Rose watched, with fascination, her own eyes roll. Her other self, the blonde Doctor's face was obviously unhappy, but still for the most part completely unreadable. "Fine," she replied flatly, and Rose could tell that it somewhat pained this other Doctor to agree with him. "That shouldn't take too long. After you're both gone, John and I can go back to what we were originally here for."

Her own Doctor's head shot up to look at the blonde-haired Doctor, immediately intrigued. "Oh?" he said trying (and failing) to keep the interest out of his voice. "What would that be then, if you're not here about the window?"

John opened his mouth as if to answer, but the blonde-haired Doctor quickly cut over him. "Nothing for you to worry about. We have it under control. Let's get you both home." Her tone was commanding and she turned immediately, and briskly started walking toward the stairwell, expecting them to follow her. Immediately, they saw John running to catch up with her.

Rose turned accusingly to the Doctor who was looking equal parts amused and surprised. "What did you go and do that for? Now she's mad at us!"

"Me!" the Doctor said, appalled. "I didn't do anything! She was just fine a second ago! She turned all cold once we got down here though. Odd that." His eyes gazed off a bit in the distance as he pondered that sudden observation.

"You were trying to tell her what to do! That's why she's angry!" Rose scolded.

"It was a suggestion!" he cried.

"We've invaded their universe and now your trying to tell her how to run it. S'rude." she told him pointedly. He pouted at her.

"Why are you taking her side?" he asked in that kicked puppy voice.

"S'me in a way. Us girls got to stick together," Rose said shrugging a little. The Doctor suddenly looked terrified. Rose grinned smugly.

With that they began following their other selves, albeit at a much slower pace. After a moment the Doctor said moodily, "You're very tetchy as a Time Lady." Rose hit him on the shoulder, but couldn't help smiling.

"I do really want to know what's going on though," he whined. "I mean did you see that room back there! They had Jathar sungliders, Rose! Jathar Sungliders! Why would they need Jathar Sungliders!" Rose couldn't say she didn't want to know as well, but she couldn't see a way out of it.

"I don't think she'll let us stay, think we might be encroaching on her territory just a bit." The Doctor looked at her appalled.

"You make it sound like were animals, us Time Lords," the Doctor said, huffing. "I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, that we Time Lords are a very advanced race with superior, weeellll, everything. Definitely not territorial animals like you seem to be suggesting. Furthermore..." Rose tuned him out. He tended to rant on, her Doctor.

Rose couldn't help but watch their other selves walking ahead of them. John seemed slightly troubled as he talked intently to her other self, trailing somewhat behind her as his lips moved rapidly. The blonde-haired Doctor was, from what Rose could see, for the most part blowing him off; arms crossed and expression stony. Rose couldn't help but feel her heart clench somewhat in sympathy for John and silently cheered for him, when the blonde-haired Doctor's expression seemed to crack under the weight of whatever he was saying to her.

"And in conclusion-" her own Doctor was saying as she tuned back in.

"Seems to me like their both quite the hand holders as well," Rose said finally to interrupt his pointless babbling. Smiling widely she watched John finally coax his Doctor from her defiant, arms crossed posture. The Doctor next to her laughed.

"Seems to me that would be true in any universe," he replied with a grin. Rose bit her lip to hide her pleased smile.

"So how is it?" Rose asked quietly after a moment. "Another Time Lord around?" The question had been bothering her now for awhile now. She remembered so long ago, when he wore another face and a leather jacket, suggesting that his head felt so empty without the presence of other Time Lords around. She wondered if maybe her other self kind of helped fill the gap. The thought made her unwittingly jealous, but she tried desperately to push down the petty feelings. She didn't want to be lonely, and if her other self helped in any way, then it was a good thing, she tried to convince herself.

The Doctor let his breath out in a sudden whoosh at the question. For a moment she thought he might avoid the question.

"It's kind of like when I meet up with other incarnations of myself, in a way," he answered her honestly, mush to her surprise. "Although I can vaguely feel her in my head, which usually doesn't happen. But it's different. Kind-of like an echo. I didn't even notice it really at first. It's too similar to my own mind for me to be able to totally distinguish it. Although there are differences, obviously."

"Is it nice though," Rose asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, "having her in your head?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Yes," he admitted honestly, "it's comforting, after so long without. But it is still really different, nothing like the connections I was used to before. Nothing I'll miss too much, really, I should think."

Rose said nothing, only squeezed his hand again, wishing she could do more. "It's all right, Rose. I promise," he said, seeing her expression.

They trudged along in silence for the next few minutes, climbing the numerous stairs to get to the white walled room. Rose was starting to feel the toll of going up so many flights. Sweat budded on her brow and an ache began to settle in her limbs.

"Why couldn't we-" she asked panting, "have taken a bloody elevator?"

"Sorry," the Doctor said grimacing apologetically. "The elevators are down since the buildings closed up. I could probably turn them back on with the sonic, but it might possibly trip the security systems. What I did to them earlier was only a very fast and basic shut down. Which honestly could be overridden at any time, if backup systems are in place, which I would assume they are." He remembered the computer and the virus he'd almost missed with a wince. "I actually really should do a full override on them. Might take a bit of time once we get up there."

By the time they did get back to the room, the other Doctor was already rummaging through the computer for more information on the window, while John was drinking from a water bottle. When she caught his eyes he held out a second bottle to her. She sighed in relief and practically ran over to snatch it from his hands.

"Oh I could kiss you right now!" she exclaimed, uncapping the bottle and eagerly draining it much more quickly than was probably prudent. When she looked up again two sets of matching brown eyes were studying her curiously, and glancing over she could see her own eyes glaring at her fiercely. She felt her face redden.

"So," the blonde-haired Doctor said loudly and with forced joviality. "I was able to track down their reports on the origin of the window. Their calling it a breech, a spatial disturbance, one that they built this whole building just to get to."

"Who?" her Doctor asked. "Who's they?"

"Torchwood," she responded.

"Torchwood? Hmm. Have you heard of them?"

"No," she said, frustrated, "but I can't help feeling...it sounds familiar."

"Yeah, sounds familiar for me too," he admitted.

"But get this," she continued, "they've been blasting the breech open with particle engines."

Rose glanced at John whose expression was just as blank as hers. It was nice not to be the only one lost for once. Apparently this new information was troubling, however, because her Doctor's eyes widened.

"Why though, would they blast it open in the first place. What are they trying to achieve?"

Here the blonde Doctor stiffened. "Well, whatever it is, we'll figure it out." She gestured to her and John. "This is our universe to protect. Now c'mon, help me run over these calculations so we can find the safest way to close this thing and then you both can be on your way. Sooner we get you home the better, I think." Her fingers were scrabbling over the keys already and sulkily Rose's Doctor made his way over to help her, totally put out.

"That's impressive," Rose whispered to John, giggling. "I've never seen him take orders from someone before." John gave a somewhat smug grin, like he was directly responsible for the superiority of his Doctor in the current situation.

"Why is she so determined to get us out of here, though?" Rose asked curiously. "We could help. Two Doctor's have to be better than one right?"

John shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me," he said, "she refused to talk about it. I didn't want to push it. Not when she gets like this."

"I know what you mean," Rose said solemnly, recalling the number of times her own Doctor had closed off from her.

The blonde-haired Doctor suddenly looked up at where her and John were huddled together conversing. She gave Rose a startlingly fierce look before looking back down to the computer (and to where her own Doctor was going off at a mile-a-minute about some detail to her). Rose cringed a little.

"I don't think she likes me very much," Rose said quietly. John's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Yeah, I noticed that too," he admitted after a moment, "I don't think it's you though. Sometimes I suspect she doesn't like herself very much," here his expression was pained. "I think looking at you is just hard in that respect. I imagine it might be the same with your Doctor and me. He's barely even acknowledged me at all."

John definitely had a point. Her Doctor was so full of guilt, sometimes. "I imagine you're right," she said queitly.

Suddenly, over head, a loud screeching noise started up. Her and John both jumped, and both Doctor's whipped their heads around. Her Doctor looked a bit sheepish. "That'll be the security," he said brightly, "probably should have finished shutting that down first."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter is a bit more for the sake of the plot than anything else. Also, don't forget to review :)**

**Chapter 5: Growing Tensions**

"So, what you're saying," the blonde-haired Doctor said, whipping to face him, "is that you didn't fully shut down their security system?"

She was angry, arms crossed in front of her, chin tilted up towards him with a fierce look in her eyes. It was Rose's face though, staring up at him with anger. Rose who hardly yelled at him or berated him for anything. It was all a bit surreal really. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Weeelll, I did do a preliminary shut down!" he defended himself. "I was planning to do a full override of the system later, but that was going to take a bit more time. And things got a bit crazy." He gestured to the all of them.

Overhead, alarms were still blaring and already they could hear the tell tale signs of footsteps a few floor down.

"You're bloody useless," she said exasperated, throwing her arms in the air.

"Now, now," he said trying to keep things calm, "no need to call names. Besides, you were singing quite a different tune earlier. I thought you didn't want our help." He gave her a pointed look.

She sputtered at him angrily and he smirked.

"How did the guards get here so fast?" Rose asked suddenly, furrowing her eyebrows, seemingly oblivious to the argument in front of her. "We haven't seen any the whole time we've been here. They couldn't have just shown up out of thin air."

"It is rather strange, isn't it?" the pinstriped Doctor agreed, turning to focus on Rose. "How did they get here so quickly?" He pulled out his sonic, spinning in a circle as he scanned all around. "I'm picking up at least twenty life forms other than us in the building now."

"There's no way all of us failed to notice twenty guards," the blonde-haired Doctor agreed, pursing her lips. "Not with the way we've been wandering around here. They had to have just gotten here somehow, but that means it was practically instantane-oh!" She doubled over suddenly, her whole body shuddering from head to toe and John, as if yanked forward by a string, was by her side instantly, supporting her so that she wouldn't fall to the floor. The brown-haired Doctor watched warily, feeling a faint, familiar sort-of tremble running through his own body. 'Ah,' he thought to himself. 'Now it makes sense.'

"Doctor, are you all right? What's wrong?" John's voice was verging on frantic.

"She's fine," Rose's Doctor stated grimly. "Just a temporal disturbance. Time Lords are rather sensitive to them and this one was rather massive it seems. Some sort of temporal shift. That's how the guards were able to show up so quickly."

"So they...teleported?" Rose asked.

"It would seem so. Like I said, however, the technology they scavenged up to create a temporal shift must have been a bit crude. That coupled with the fact that people in this time shouldn't even be using this sort of technology can create large rippling effects in the time limes. Her proximity to the source of the disturbances would have allowed her to feel the affects of them much more acutely than normal."

"Can you feel them, too? Are you all right?" Rose asked, eyes roaming over him to make sure he was also okay.

"Yup! Right as rain. This isn't my universe after all, so it's a bit harder for me to sense those kind of disturbances here. And she should be fine in just a moment as well."

True to his word, the blonde-haired Doctor was already stirring in John's arms, pulling herself back up and slightly away from his support, her breathing a touch more ragged than normal.

"Doctor!" John said. The relief in his voice was palpable.

"Fine," she said a little breathily. "I'm fine." She struggled weakly against his tight grip and John reluctantly let her go fully.

"Are you sure your all right?" John asked again, his eye appraising her worriedly. The blonde-haired Doctor rolled her own. "No need to fuss." She tilted her head towards the door. "I think we have more important things to worry about at the moment." Her head tilted towards the door. "They sound close."

"What's the plan, then?" Rose asked, a touch hesitant in the face of her other self. "The guards might be a little confused if they see all four of us, yeah?"

"Quite right!" The brown-haired Doctor agreed exuberantly before the other Doctor could comment. "Rose and I can talk to them, try to get some information out of them about what's going on here. You two should go hide." The blonde-haired Doctor properly growled at him in response. He shrank back just a touch. It was actually quite frightening, the deathly look on her face.

"No way! We'll handle this. Our universe after all. You two can go hide."

"Well, whatever the hell we do we need to decide soon!" Rose snapped at both of them, tired of their constant bickering.

The blonde-haired Doctor whipped to Rose with a sneer on her face. "You can just be quiet!" TRose's Doctor blinked in total surprise at the outburst, and then felt anger suffuse his veins. No one talked to Rose like that.

"Hey," he shouted fiercely, "don't yell at Rose!"

"Everyone," John exclaimed, rolling his eyes, "we're not children. C'mon now! No need to go to pieces over a few guards. If you're both going to be stubborn about it, Rose and I will just go hide."

"No." The blonde-haired Doctor's voice was flat and hard, her tone practically daring anyone to challenge her decision. John blinked, startled. Everyone was quiet for a tense moment, the only sound being the swiftly approaching guards.

She turned to the brown-haired man. "We don't have time to fight. You and Rose go hide and we'll take care of this."

"Now wait," he said beseechingly, "just hear me out. You two can go hide, while we distract the guards, and then you both can go ahead and take care of whatever it is you're here for. Since you wouldn't tell us, we don't know what it is and so aren't of much help outside this room. With them distracted you can try to put a stop to it. The more information we have over them, the better. We need to stay one step ahead."

The other Doctor studied him for a long moment, lips pursed and eyes slightly narrowed. "All right," she finally conceded. "C'mon John." She grabbed his hand and once they had looked out the door to make sure the coast was clear, they slipped out.

"Blimey," Rose said once they were gone.

"I really don't think she wants us here," the Doctor said with cheer. "You're a very mean Time Lady."

"Don't I know it," Rose grumbled. "She hates me!"

"Yeah, I don't know why that is. I mean you are kind of the same person, after all. And you're lovely! I thought you two would be all girlish giggles or something, knowing my luck."

Rose snorted. "Well, it's not like you're going and giving hugs and kisses to John or anything."

The Doctor grinned at her saucily. "No, that would be you, wouldn't it?"

Rose blushed violently. "It was an expression! I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Not that I can blame you," the Doctor continued to tease as if he hadn't heard her. "He is rather handsome." He tweaked his tie for effect and Rose slapped him lightly on the arm laughing.

"Oh, you're so full of it!" she said between giggles.

Banging started up outside the door and both of them rapidly turned to face it, the Doctor leaning over to whisper in Rose's ear, "I think our friends might be coming!"

The door burst open with two guards holding guns in the lead, followed by a women striding confidently in the room with clicking heal. She was dressed up in an immaculate suit, her honey-colored hair curled and resting on her shoulders. More guards began pouring in behind her. Interestingly enough she was smiling widely at them. Even so, they both raised their hands in surrender in lieu of the pointing guns.

"Now, you didn't have to get all dressed up for us!" the Doctor said in a flattered voice. Rose nudged him in the side, but he saw she was trying to repress laughter out of the corner of his eye.

"I must say," the woman said in a polished voice, ignoring his statement, " that I was a bit put out to discover we had been broken into. You see, our building here has the utmost security. Who could have possibly broken in? The answer to that is much more pleasing than I could have hoped!" Then the women was clapping.

"Umm," the Doctor said, confused but a little pleased nonetheless. Very rarely did he ever get a welcoming receptions.

The women stepped forward, hand held out to a startled Rose. Immediately he stepped partially in front of her and glared at the women, daring her to come any closer.

"So protective. I guess I assumed it would be the other way around, but perhaps not," she said looking between them oddly. "I'm just saying hello." She held her hand out for emphasis.

"I don't generally trust people that have guns pointed at us," he snapped, but still he backed down, watching her closely as she approached Rose.

"Yvonne Hartman," the women said giving Rose a firm handshake. "It's great to finally meet you. We were wondering if we would ever get the chance! This is Torchwood." She spread her arms out wide in welcome. Rose meanwhile looked flabbergasted.

"Uhhh," Rose said, unsure.

"Oh, don't be shy! We already know all about you anyway, Doctor," Yvonne told her, conspiratorially. Rose let out a squeak.

Suddenly things clicked into place for the Doctor. If what they said was true and they somehow had knowledge on the Doctor, it would be knowledge of the Doctor in this universe, and that meant Rose would fit the bill. She was going to have to take charge for this one.

"And of course we know you don't travel alone. I imagine this is your companion." Yvonne indicated him.

"Ahh yes!" he said brightly, thrusting out his hand. "John Smith."

"Pleasure," she said, shaking his hand.

"Oh, umm, of course," Rose said catching on. "This is, uhh, my trusty companion John." She patted him awkwardly on the head and the Doctor decided she wasn't really a very good actor. He inwardly groaned.

Yvonne looked between them with a perturbed expression. "How about," she finally said after a moment, voice bright again, "I give you the grand tour."

"No," Rose shouted, and the Doctor cringed at her outburst. "Uhh, I mean," she said trying to weakly laugh it off, "how about you tell us about this first." She indicated the blank wall. "It's covered in, umm, void stuff!" The last word was shouted with a bit of triumph.

"Void stuff?" Yvonne asked intrigued. The Doctor almost sighed in relief that she had taken the bait.

"Yes," Rose said, voice gaining confidence. "Void stuff. Torchwood, it's opening a window between universes here is it not? Between those universes is the void...so void stuff," she waved her hand around a little and the Doctor couldn't help smiling. He always wondered if she was actually listening to him when he rambled on.

"I see," Yvonne said. "What's in the void then? What is it?" Her voice was eager.

Rose floundered for a moment, unsure what to say. "It's, uhh, well, it's not good?" she tried. "Opening windows like this is dangerous." She added after a moment.

"We've seen no harm, Doctor. We're very careful here. We have only the best scientists working on these calculations. We only use the window for good."

Here the Doctor spoke up. "Oh yeah. And what would that be?" he demanded.

Yvonne looked at him startled. "You don't know? Well, might as well save the best for last! Do not worry! There will be time for that later! Right now, we require the Doctor's assistance with a few artifacts we have collected over the years. With your knowledge, we could fine tune these items to do so much good for Britain."

"What makes you think I'm going to help?" Rose said defiantly. A small shudder ran through the Doctor, unbidden. He kind of liked Rose taking charge.

"Oh Doctor I don't think you quite understand. Do you know why Torchwood was created in the first place?"

Rose looked at her warily. "Why?"

"The house in Scotland when you encountered Queen Victoria, it was called Torchwood. And that day Queen Victoria set up Torchwood, as an institution to fight against the alien threat. And you Doctor, in that original charter, are named enemy of the crown. You're our prisoner."

The Doctor stared at her in shock and Rose paled. "Oh," she squeaked in surprise.

"We have a motto here at Torchwood, Doctor. If it's alien it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky gets stripped and used for the good of the British empire. And this window is just the start. Imagine what else we could do with it. What else we could do with the technology we've gathered!"

"And where do you think that window leads to Miss Hartman," the Doctor said cooly. She looked up at him in surprise as if she hadn't expected him to talk.

"Well the void apparently," she said flippantly. "That would imply empty space, so no harm done."

The Doctor laughed bitterly, completely forgetting he was supposed to be keeping quiet. "You're messing with things you don't understand, Miss Hartman. Yes, there is the void, but that is only the place between universes. With your meddling," he spit, "you've opened up a window to an alternate universe. A world. A planet Earth full of billions of human being just like yourselves. Do you know what kind of strains you're putting on both your universe and the other by keeping this window open in the first place? Before long there will be firecrackers going off! Two whole universe. Destroyed. Do you really want that on your head?"

Yvonne Hartman was looking at him rather gobsmacked and at first he felt a little triumphant at having gotten through to her, then he turned to Rose whose eyes were yelling at him to shut up. He suddenly remembered the situation.

"At least," he said frantically and loudly, trying to salvage the situation, "that's what the Doctor tells me." He looked at both of them, smiling sheepishly.

Yvonne looked at him suspiciously for a long moment. Then, she turned back to Rose.

"Well, like I said Doctor," she told Rose, "you can help us make it safe for our side. The other universe is of no concern to me."

Yvonne looked out the large back window, where the sun was beginning to rise. "Might as well start on that tour, then, before the day starts." She checked her watch. "In four hours time, Doctor, we have our next shift opening the window. You can observe how it works, then. Come along now."

Surreptitiously, Rose glanced at him, asking what they should do with her eyes. Seeing nothing for it right now, he tilted his head, indicating to follow Yvonne. Maybe they could gain some more information this way, at the least. The other Doctor and John had a head start, they could fend for themselves.

Yvonne led them to the elevators and he heard Rose audibly sigh in relief. The tour was nothing groundbreaking, the main event being the room full of the alien equipment that Torchwood had hoarded over the years. Since they had already seen it, they were suitably unimpressed which seemed to annoy Yvonne greatly.

They were interrupted when a burly man came wheezing down the corridor, face red with exertion. "Ma'am," he said to Yvonne when he approached her, "we've found the intru-" he cut off, suddenly, when he saw the Doctor and Rose, stumbling backwards a few steps. "How...how d-did you..." he said accusingly, pointing at them, white-faced. He stumbled back a few more steps, shaking.

"Jeffrey," Yvonne tried to soothe, "Jeffrey, that's your name right?"

"Y-yes ma'am," he said unsteadily.

"Tell me what's going on," she said firmly. The Doctor was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. This could all go very pear-shaped.

Jeffrey pointed at them. "We found the t-two intruders ma'am, digging through files in one of the offices. We took them to the cells, b-but ma'am..." he said trailing off, unable to articulate his surprise.

"What, tell me Jeffrey! What!" Yvonne demanded, shaking the frightened man. The Doctor watched tight-lipped, and grabbed Rose's hand protectively.

He pointed at them. "Those were the prisoners. But we locked them up! We just locked them up! How in the world are they standing right here!"

"How long ago was this?" Yvonne demanded, whipping to regard them sharply.

"Not three minutes ago. I came here immediately! There's...there's no way, if they had gotten out they couldn't have beat me here!"

"Besides," Yvonne said, "they've been with me for the last thirty minutes or so." She turned to them with a long, hard look. "What is going on?"

The Doctor grinned innocently at her. "I don't know," he said.

"Nor I," Rose said, although he could tell how strained her voice was from trying to stop herself from laughing.

"All right," Yvonne said. "Take me to the prisoners, then. You two are coming as well."

The Doctor, unsure of any plans, agreed and pulled Rose's hand gently along to show her it was all right. They followed Yvonne through the large room to the very back where a nondescript door was located. It lead down the stairs to an even lower part of the building that they were previously unaware of.

Upon arriving at the bottom, they could see there were cells lined up against the walls. Various creatures were kept locked away and the Doctor gritted his teeth at the inhumanity of it, but for now said nothing on the matter. The more he was getting to know Torchwood, the less he was liking it.

They arrived down near the back, where both their other selves were locked up together. The Doctor was leaning with her back against the wall, arms crossed in front of her, with an easy expression on her face. She didn't seemed too bothered that they had been caught. John, his look-alike, was sitting on the floor against the opposite wall, head tilted back and eyes closed.

When they came closer and were aware they were not alone, however, they both snapped up to attention immediately. John scrabbling to an upright position. When the other Doctor caught sight of them she rolled her eyes. He grinned back at her widely.

"Oh, it's you lot. Good going, yeah?" she said sarcastically.

"Your positions not much better from where I'm standing," he quipped. She rolled her eyes again.

"I would have gotten out," she grumbled. "Besides you were supposed to be distracting!"

"We were," he said defensively.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Yvonne looked livid by this point. "What," she said, her voice deadly as poison, "is going on? Is this some kind of trick? Clones, maybe? Trying to make us out to be fools, Doctor?" She looked at Rose and then at her exact copy in the cell, confusion on her face.

"Actually on second thought. Never mind that now. Guards lock them all up. I have to get things in order for the next shift and there are a...few other matters I must handle. I will be back, you can count on that." With that ominous statement, she traveled back the way they had came. He went to dodge around and run after her, but he was apprehended immediately by a guard. Rose was also being held by a guard by this point. He growled in frustration, but otherwise let himself be dropped off into the cell with the other two. Rose was shoved in roughly as well, dropping to the floor on her knees, and he was immediately by her side to help her up.

"Are you all right?" he asked her softly. She waved off his concern. "All right," she said. "I'm okay."

"Well, now what the hell are we going to go?" the blonde-haired Doctor demanded.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their favorite lists! I love hearing what you guys have to say! *Edit* A few of you guys pointed out a discrepancy in this chapter that I missed, but it has now been fixed. Thank you for catching it for me and sorry I missed it in the first place!**

**Chapter 6: Making Mistakes**

Out of everything John had ever seen, out of all the monsters and the planets and the time he'd witnessed (golden-eyed and oozing power, but with only one thought, only ever one thought on his mind), this was the one situation to have ever given him pause. Sure at first it had all been rather exciting to see their other selves, a whole new world he could scarcely believe was real. However the whole situation was just as equally disconcerting.

He hadn't really spoken more than two words to his look alike, not that he was intimidated, but it still felt odd nonetheless. Rose, however, was interesting and he had actually enjoyed talking to her. If only because she understood. She reminded him so much of the women holding his hand right now, what it would have been like if she had been human. It also without a doubt solidified his belief that this, with her (his Doctor), was the life he wanted. Not that he had ever doubted it.

And while the situation may have given him pause, his own Doctor seemed to be taking the greatest hit of them all from the meeting for some unfathomable reason. This women who had stared down the devil himself, who had Daleks pausing over her name, who could bring down whole governments with a handful of words...If he didn't know her any better he would say she was absolutely frightened.

She hadn't embraced this new adventure with her usual enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that would have in turn filled him with confidence. Instead, she was absolutely determined to see that their other selves got the hell out of here as fast as she could make it happen. She was distant, angry even. He could sense that she was more upset than she was letting on. But of what, he wondered? What had put that flicker of fear and doubt creeping through the mask of her cold demeanor?

He had never seen her snap like she had snapped at Rose earlier. And the disdain she was treating the other Doctor with was also uncharacteristic of her. Sure, he had seen her righteous anger before. But never had she treated people only trying to help them with such malice. In the time he had known her, all he could see was a compassionate, lonely women, doing the best she could to make the right choices. The tough decisions no one else could make. He admired her so much and he couldn't understand why her mood had turned so suddenly sour.

He wanted to ask her, to have her open up to him for once. He wanted her to know that he was there for her. He didn't know, however, if it would be wise of him to question her. If she wouldn't just brush off his concern like a piece of annoying lint clinging to her clothing. Still, John was nothing if not stubborn and he'd be damned if he didn't at least try, couldn't help himself from straying just a little too close to that burning fire. Normally, John knew to at least let her cool off her anger before he began trying to demand she open up to him, but he didn't know when they would be alone together again (not until after this had been solved, surely) and by then, he might just lose his nerve and blow the whole thing off like they usually did after an adventure. Leaving it in the past, where she so often believed it belonged.

Regardless, the chance wasn't really presenting itself now either. They were ducking down corridors, quiet as hunters as they made their way past newly posted (and oblivious) guards. She said nothing, but he wasn't sure if it was because they needed to be quiet (which undeniably they did) or if she just as much didn't want to have to talk to him.

Every now and then they slipped into a room, searching through locked compartments and files for any information they could get their hands on. She scanned all around for the tech she thought would be needed to build a machine like the one Torchwood would need to accomplish ridding the world of pollution.

"It's quite possible they've rigged different machines together, as well," she whispered, frustrated when she couldn't get any concise reading on the screwdriver. "There's too much equipment here, weelll, down in that basement anyway, it's messing with the scans."

"We'll just have to look around a bit I guess. Do some detecting, eh?" he said, trying to be somewhat cheerful. She scowled at him.

"Oh, yeah," she snarked. "We'll just comb through every single floor for some elusive piece of technology. It could look like anything, at this point. And for all we know, the damn thing is in that giant gadget free-for-all room down there. Pretty good way to hide it I'd reckon."

"You said earlier," he started tentatively, "that you thought it would be kept on the upper floors. Y'know with big windows. Higher up in the air and all?"

"Yes." Her answer was short and clipped, like she was really only vaguely interested in what he had to say. It stung a little, where she so often before had listened to his ideas with only the utmost respect and trust. Still he pushed forward.

"That room...the one with the levers. It had that big glass office, with the windows encompassing the entire back wall, looking to the outside world. Other offices we searched on that floor had windows like that too, but those windows, they didn't have any way to open them. The windows in the glass office had latches, Doctor. Is it possible...could they be using the passageway to the other universe to...somehow suck things in?" he reached a hadn up to tug on his ear, wondering if he had just made an utter fool of himself in his suggestion.

She looked at him blankly for a long moment, then suddenly her face split into a huge grin. He was relieved at the sight of it.

"Oh, John Smith," she said in that voice that made him feel like so much more than her simple human companion; one that made shivers run down his spine. "You. are. brilliant!" She gave him a bone-crushing hug, throwing her arms around his neck and he squeezed her back just as tightly. He smiled softly at her when they pulled apart, pleased that she was in a better mood now that they had a purpose.

"Do you think they'll still be up there, our other selves and those guards?" he asked.

"Could be," she admitted, biting her lip, "We'll just have to be sneaky and go check it out. If they're not there this could be our only chance to mess with the window and figure out what's going on for sure."

They had only travelled a few floors down, so it wasn't too hard to get back up to the top floor. Guards however littered this floor, not overwhelmingly so, but enough to be a nuisance. The door to the room with the window itself had a few guards posted outside of it.

The Doctor scanned the area. "There aren't any signs of life forms in the room," she said quietly, warm breath ghosting his ear pleasantly, "that's lucky at least, although who knows where our other selves are. Possibly locked up by now. No matter, we'll find them later. For now, their guard should be down, thinking the intruders have already been caught."

"What's the plan then?" he whispered back.

She dug around her pocket and after a few jerky movements (her pockets were bigger on the inside) she produced a small, round device he'd never seen. "What's that?"

"I nicked it down in that basement earlier," she said, grinning smugly. "Thought it might come in handy. It sends out a pulse that should knock out the guards for, oh, maybe thirty minutes. So we'll have to be quick."

She pressed down on the button without a second thought and a blast of green light emitted in a ring from the device, traveling outward. It happened in seconds, the green light washing over him, so quickly, he had no time to react. He felt his vision blurring, blackness creeping in around the edges. Vaguely, he could make out the Doctor's face swimming in front of him, her mouth wide open, saying his name over and over again, but he couldn't hear it. He felt heavy, sluggish and he wobbled on his feet, partially aware that he was being supported by something. That was when his vision went totally black.

When he awoke his mouth felt sandpaper dry. He coughed as his vision began reasserting itself and instantly above him he could make out the face of the Doctor. The world still felt like it was tilting violently and his head pounded harshly in his skull, but as his senses regained he could make out he was laying back on a hard, cold surface. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to get them to focus on her concerned face.

"John!" she said, squeezing his hand. Weakly he squeezed back and she smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he assured her, voice raspy. "What happened?"

"I'm so sorry," she said, voice anguished. "My fault, I was so stupid."

"You're," he wheezed, shaking his head at her words, "the...most brilliant...women, I know."

Her smile was watery. "Not today," she said softly. "I should have checked over the device first," she held it up for him and the cloudy feeling in his head began to ease at the sight, as his memories started crawling back. "Torchwood has modified it. It usually sends a more concentrated pulse, forward and outward, not a full circular radius like this one does. You were knocked out."

He began trying to sit up so he could get a better feel for the room they were in, but he still felt a little off balance and the Doctor was already pushing him back down to the floor. "Just lie still for a moment. How's the head?" she asked sympathetically.

He winced and that was all the answer she needed. "I'm sorry," she said again, looking away from him.

"Doctor, look at me. It's okay. I'm okay," he assured her. Then, "Is there any water?" His throat still felt terribly dry and it was starting to get uncomfortable.

"There's a sink," she said. "You'll have to get up to get to it. There are no cups. Just give yourself a few seconds though." His head had already started coming up to see the sink she was indicating and finally he noticed their surroundings.

"We're in a cell. A prison cell. How'd we get here, then?"

"You were knocked out cold," she said, unhappily. "But not in any immediate danger and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out the window unsupervised. I dragged you into the room. Sorry about that." He waved off her guilty look. "I was able to find some different tests conducted on the window when I dug a little deeper than the preliminary reports. Had to crack through some more secure files, showing experiments they've done on the window and how they are using it. You were right, John, about the window. They were able to rig it to suck in the pollution of this world like a vacuum cleaner. It wasn't long after that when some guards came up to check on their friends because they weren't answering on the com system. I couldn't find a place to hide us fast enough and I would have lost too much time trying to drag you somewhere. And I definitely couldn't leave you, so here we are." She motioned around glumly.

"Still," he said. "You got what you needed right? You know how we can stop that thing?"

She smiled widely. "Oh, yes. We'll be able to shut it down for sure. Just got to figure out how to break out of here and how to subdue those guards without knocking you out."

"We'll come to that when we come to that. Let's work on breaking out of here first," he said brightly.

With the Doctor's help he was able to get himself standing so he could take a drink of water from the sink. The water felt cool and refreshing against his parched mouth and he drank greedily. Once done he felt much better, if a bit wobbly still.

"Sit down," she said gently, head jerking over to the wall. "Just for a few minutes."

He didn't think he could remain standing for much longer anyway so for once he obeyed, sitting with his back against the wall, head tilted back and eyes closed, taking a few steadying breaths. He could hear her moving about, muttering to herself as she looked for ways to get out.

"Do you have the sonic?"

"No, they took it," she said annoyed. "Even if I did, it's a deadlock seal. High security here it seems."

"There were no night guards here," he said, voicing something that had been niggling away in the back of his mind.

"Probably didn't think they needed them with all their stolen alien tech. They used it to rig some pretty high tech security systems. Those temporal shifts for one. Way beyond this time period which is why it made me so nauseated before. They didn't really account for us, though eh? We could get past any security system they throw at us." He could almost hear the grin in her voice and everything was starting to feel like it was going back to normal. The snappish tone was gone and he could tell she was less on edge now.

"Didn't account for our other selves either," he pointed out. He was met with a startling silence.

He opened his eyes cautiously to peer up at her. "Doctor?" he questioned when he was met with her closed off expression. She was studiously looking around their cell, presumably looking for a way out, but more likely than not just trying to avoid his gaze.

"Hmm?" she hummed.

"Tell me what's wrong," he demanded. "You've been off today."

"I resent that, John," she bit out. "I have not been off."

He sighed, not wanting to fight with her. "Look," he said quietly. "I'm just worried about you. Tell me what's wrong?"

She didn't answer for a long time, nor did she look at him. Finally when he had all but given up hope on an answer she turned to him with solemn eyes.

"It's just thrown me off is all," she admitted. "I...I don't know, it sounds stupid, but this is our world, our universe...I don't like them...interfering here."

"They're just trying to help. I admit it's a bit weird and all, but in the end it's not like they're staying or anything."

"I know," she sighed heavily. "I just don't like sharing, I guess." Her face suddenly went panicked and hastily she said, "The universe, I mean. I don't like sharing the universe. It's always been mine to save. Well, ours I should say."

John grinned at her amusedly. "It sounds a bit like your jealous, Doctor." Hs voice was teasing. She blushed, very lightly, so imperceptibly really that he had probably just imagined it. She looked away and he snickered.

"Let's just...focus on getting out of here, all right?" she said firmly.

He jumped to his feet to help, dizziness for the most part gone as they scoured the cell for some kind of weakness. After awhile the Doctor started getting frustrated when no means of escape were forth coming. She kicked the wall angrily.

"This is bollucks," she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "I've never met a jail cell I couldn't escape from."

John still felt a little sluggish, so defeated he sat back against the wall again and found his eyes closing on their on accord in weariness this time. "You'll think of something," he replied confidently.

"You're tired," she said, concerned.

"A bit," he agreed. "I'll be fine."

"If you say so." She didn't sound convinced.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the soft thumps of approaching footsteps made its way to their ears.

"Maybe I can get the guard to come close enough to nick the keys off him," the Doctor whispered excitedly, happy to be doing something instead of sitting around like a lump.

His eyes opened at that and quickly he went to stand to help her. He hadn't even stepped two feet towards her when the guards were in sight, leading their other selves in. John inwardly groaned. He didn't even realize he had been harboring the hope that maybe those two were free and would be able to get them out somehow, until he saw them being lugged by the guards towards them.

There was a tall women with curled hair who spoke sharply to all of them, but John was hardly paying attention to her as the other two were pushed roughly in the cell, his look alike immediately trying to get back out and passed the guards. He was unsuccessful and with a deep frown he allowed himself to be put back in the cell. Rose was dumped in, falling harshly to the floor. John looked at her concernedly but before he even had a chance to move to see if she was all right, her Doctor was already by her side muttering words of comfort to her.

He looked back to his own Doctor to see that she had that angry expression on her face again as she demanded, "Well, now what the hell are we going to do?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Time to get into the blonde-haired Doctor's head a little bit ;) **

**Chapter 7: Dangerous Games**

She was being unfair. She knew she was, but she couldn't help the gut-roiling fear that had been coursing through her ever since the realization had come. In the beginning it had really been quite unexpected and amusing to meet the other Doctor. The fact that there was another universe out there where he was the Doctor and she was the companion seemed almost ludicrous. Her John, the Time Lord. She could hardly wrap her mind around it!

It was a funny little glimpse at another world. She figured they would all have a laugh and then send the other two back to their proper universe. That was, until she realized exactly what the implications were that their alternate selves were here: Rose. Herself as a human. Someone who looked just like her, who apparently acted a lot like her...But ultimately was human. Initially, she had even been a little curious to see what that would be like.

However, she wasn't expecting the torrent of emotions that had hit her when she saw John laughing with Rose. They had been bent over each other gasping for breath and supporting each other like they were already the best of friends. With sickening dread she had realized the enormity of the position they had all found themselves in. John was human. Rose was human. It didn't take a genius (although she was one), to connect the dots from there. After that the 'what if's' had started spinning out of control in her head. She had felt absolutely sick. Absolutely jealous right down to her core, because this Rose had the potential to give John what she, herself, would never be able to.

After that all she wanted to do was get their other selves out of here as fast as she could. As soon as they were gone, the horrifying thoughts could leave her mind, and her and John could move on past this the way they always did. She hated the jealousy that was creeping in her system, she hated how stupid she was being, how badly she was letting this affect her, but she couldn't help it. Her worst fears had been realized. All she could see in her head was them laughing together. John blushing when Rose had playfully said she could kiss him. John's seeming concern for Rose. It made her stomach drop out from under her, no matter how irrational it was. John cared for anyone, and Rose looked like her! Surely, she was seeing way more into it than there was. Still, it gnawed relentlessly at her gut, if nothing else because of the reminder. Because they were both just so utterly human. And why, oh, why was she the only one having to experience these totally undignified, un-Time Lord like feelings? The other Doctor had been so...relaxed about the whole thing...

Still, the hurricane that was her thoughts would not stop there. It had been only days ago that the beast in the pit had said John would die in battle, and everyday she lived in fear that that day would come. Bottom line was that her life was dangerous. Everyday she put him in danger. Right now he was in danger, and one day he would die because of her. How much more could Rose offer him than her, she couldn't help herself from wondering? Safety and stability and a full happy life together and children and...her thoughts kept spinning out of control. She was going to lose him, be it to death or old-age or his realization that he deserved so much more than her.

She hadn't even realized that she had slid down the cell wall to the floor until John's gentle voice wafted over her. "Doctor?" He said it tentatively, reaching out a careful hand to rest on her shoulder, concern shining in his eye. She could already see that the other Doctor and Rose were looking over the cell and discussing possible ways to get out, much like her and John had already done.

"I'm all right," she finally said, giving John the best smile she could muster up so he wouldn't worry anymore. He automatically smiled a small, shy smile back at her. "C'mon let's see what they've got," she said gesturing to their other selves. John nodded, standing up quickly so that he could offer her a hand. She rolled her eyes at his usual chivalry, but still took his hand with a small grin that she tried her hardest to smother.

In the end, the only difference that the arrival of their duplicates seemed to accomplish was the addition of the sonic screwdriver to their supplies. The door was still a dead lock seal, however, and would not open. Still it was a start.

Holding up the screwdriver, the brown-haired Doctor said, "You see, they knew about you here. The Doctor that is. And in this universe that's you. Or in our case at the time, Rose," he said, looking at her. "So they really didn't feel the need, I guess, to check me over, which was their mistake really."

Rose grumbled. "They took my lipgloss off me," she said bitterly. "Sonic lipgloss. Ha!" Her Doctor chuckled at her, his look affectionate, and even John let out a small laugh. The blonde-haired Doctor's skin boiled at the sound.

"Well," she interjected quickly. "Let's get to work on breaking out of here, then."

"Na-huh," the brown-haired Doctor said, waggling his finger at her. She glared at it. "First of all, you need to tell us what is going on here. I mean obviously the window, that's what we're here for after all, but it's something else too. We're not going anywhere too soon, so you might as well just tell us. We can help! Promise we'll be out of your hair once it's all sorted. Cross my hearts!" He made small X's with his fingers over each heart and the blonde-haired Doctor sighed unable to deny his logic.

"The window," she started resignedly.

"Look-" the other Doctor cut her off before she could go any further, "I really think you're being a bit unfair-"

"No, the window is the problem. The only problem. But it's bigger than you think. The reason John and I came here was because of the pollution...how there really isn't any. I assumed you would have noticed that?"

"Well, yes," Rose said. "We just...we just thought it was apart of this world. This parallel world, you know? How some things are a little different. We thought with all the bright colors and everything that...I don't know that the whole less pollution thing was just apart of it somehow."

"It's not," the blonde-haired Doctor said. "I thought they had some...stolen technology or something that was being manipulated to do it. Something that could prove to be dangerous. Or that whoever had it, had other plans, other technology and such. Seems I was right in some ways, but they don't have a machine doing this." Her face was grim as she looked at the other Doctor, waiting for him to catch on.

"The window," he breathed.

"Yes, before we got apprehended, I took a look at some of their more deeply secured reports on the window. They have it set up to suck in the pollution from our world."

"But that's-" the other Doctor exclaimed, unable to finish.

"I know," she said apologetically.

"What! What is it!" Rose asked, looking between the two Doctor's.

"Rose," her Doctor said, with dread starting to creep into his voice. "That window is connected to our world! If they're sucking the pollution into it...there is only one place it can go. The void is nothingness, it will reject it right on the spot and shoot it straight to our world."

"That's horrible!" Rose said, hand covering her mouth. The Doctor nodded grimly.

"That amount of pollution, continually being added on and added on...we have to stop this right now or a lot of people are going to die. The Earth in our universe is going to be...overwhelmed. Destroyed," the brown-haired Doctor said gravely.

"And much sooner at that if they keep up they activity with the window in the first place. They're blasting it open. Ripping it and ripping it and both our universes can't take much more," the blond-haired Doctor explained. "First though, we need to find a way to get out of here."

"Right!" the other Doctor bounded into action. It seemed his enthusiasm would be short-lived, however because already they could hear the sound of heels approaching.

"Oh yes," the brown-haired Doctor said, voice drawling. "I forgot to mention we made a friend. Meet Yvonne Hartman, although I'm sure you remember her from when she brought us in. She's in charge of this fine establishment." The sarcasm in his voice was heavy.

"Well thank you for that lovely introduction," Yvonne said sweetly. "How's the cell? I hope you've found everything to your liking?"

The brown-haired Doctor shrugged. "Not the best I've had. On Calli Four Prime they bring you refreshments and little nibbles. I love nibbles!" Rose snorted in amusement. Yvonne looked annoyed.

"Look, I'm not here to play games," Yvonne said sharply, the sudden shift in her tone startling the occupants of the cell. "Our next shift starts soon and I need the Doctor. That's it. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Tell me which one of you is the Doctor. The real Doctor." She looked back and forth between both blondes who remained silent. The blonde-haired Doctor noticed out of the corner of her eye that the other Doctor had positioned himself in front of Rose slightly.

"No answer?" Yvonne said with a sigh. "I had hoped that wouldn't be the case, but I'm not surprised. I have ways to get you to talk, though, rest assured. Where to start though? How about you," she pointed at Rose. "You know, since we're already acquainted."

Rose gave a tiny squeak and her Doctor growled. Despite all her animosity towards the other girl, the blonde-haired Doctor couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. This other girl might be hurt because of her...Because she wasn't going to speak up.

"Guards," Yvonne said. Her voice was almost bored.

Their cell was opened and immediately they went to restrain the other Doctor who was standing protectively in front of Rose. They restrained him, if not easily, then effectively. One guard he might have been able to take, but not two. He was thrashing about wildly in their grips as two more guards grabbed Rose.

"Stop!" the brown-haired Doctor was shouting. "Let her go! Help her!" The last was directed to her and John.

John who had made an attempt to help when the guards had first entered made another move to duck around her, but she had already grabbed a hold of him so he wouldn't do anything foolish when they had first entered. She held him back again now. "Don't," she said, voice sad, but firm.

"Please," the brown-haired Doctor was saying, voice ragged as Rose was dragged off. The girl was trembling slightly in the arms of the guards, although she was still shouting and struggling defiantly against their grips. The blond-haired Doctor felt another wave of crushing guilt and shame overwhelm her for letting it happen, necessary as it was.

"Please," he choked out again, voice pleading to them, the guards, anyone.

The guards tossed him aside once Rose was out of sight and they were out the door before he could scramble back up again. Still, he made his way quickly over to the bars of the cell, pounding on them, voice cracking as he shouted. "Bring her back! Bring her Back! She's not-"

That's finally when the blonde-haired Doctor stepped in. "Don't," she said softly.

He whirled around at her, backing away from her, his face harsh. "How could you let them take her! How could you possibly-" his voice failed him and he sank to the ground in despair. "Oh, god," he whispered. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god."

"I'm so sorry," she said kneeling beside him. The guilt was nearly over-powering now. Wrenching her insides apart because she had chosen to let this happen and now the man in front of her was falling apart.

"If they hurt her," he choked out. "All the technology they have...they could...I don't even know anything about this universe! I don't know how to protect her here!"

"I'm sorry," she said again. It was entirely inadequate.

"How could you just...let them take her? Not when you know...not when you understand..." he shuddered and stopped talking abruptly.

She did understand. Her eyes glanced to John for the briefest of moments and then she looked away again, back to the other Doctor who was gripping his hair much like John did when he was stressed or upset or angry. "I'm supposed to keep her safe," he said miserably, "if they think she's a Time Lord they could try...anything. She's only human!"

"They won't do anything that could kill her," she said, trying for comfort, but wincing when the words came out and his face immediately hardened at them.

"Yeah because they want her alive, right?" he spit at her, recoiling from the hand she had placed on his shoulder to try and calm him down. "Well, guess what. I've endured plenty of things much worse than simply being killed in the hands of people who wanted a Time Lord, as I'm sure you have too." His words were cutting. "And now they have Rose," he said, voice dropping murderously low, "because you wanted to save your own sorry-"

"Hey!" John cut in suddenly, stepping between them. "I'm sure she had her reasons. There's no use yelling at each other about it now. It's not going to solve anything!"

Her John. Her wonderful John, always coming to her defense even when she didn't deserve it. Especially not this time. Because she did have her reasons, all of them entirely selfish.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm so sorry, but if we want to get this window stopped, if we want to get some kind of plan to take down Yvonne, to take down Torchwood, than I really couldn't afford to be strapped to a table right now." He winced violently at the words and she cursed her stupid mouth. "We'll need both of us," she said, barreling forward, "both of us to stop this. And fast. Like you said, every minute is detrimental for your home universe. But I promise you, we will get her out. With both of us on the case, it'll be a piece of cake."

All of those reasons were all entirely a lie, even if on some level they were true. It would be easier and faster with both Doctor's here right now to work on getting out and figuring out a plan to stop the window. Really it would. It was not why she had done it though.

Her eyes glanced yet again to John. He would be furious with her if he knew that he was the reason she had so readily let Rose be taken off like that. She had to be here to protect him. Like she promised his father. She couldn't...she just couldn't lose him. The beast's words still rang so clearly in her head. _The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon._ How was she to leave him with that promise hanging over their heads? No, she wouldn't leave him and she wouldn't lose him. She couldn't entrust his life down here with their other selves, not knowing who Yvonne would take next. She couldn't afford to leave him solely in the protection of this other Doctor, who she had no doubt would pick Rose to protect over John if it came down to it. Not that she could ever blame him for that, not really, because she understood. God she understood, and she can take comfort in the fact that she knows if he had been in her position, he would have made the same choice. Still, the shame of it was threatening to destroy her. But like always she had done what she had needed to do.

So all she said was, "We'll get her out. I promise."

The brown-haired Doctor looked at her for a long moment. She thought his eyes might hold accusation. And, oh, how it would still hurt to see those familiar brown eyes that had only ever looked at her with utter belief before, look at her with disappointment and betrayal. Instead, though, the brown-haired Doctor's eyes only held weariness and nine-hundred years worth of pain and loss that she was only all too familiar with. A pain that she never, ever would have wished on anyone else. But they also held determination.

"I won't rest until I do," he vowed.

"We'll help," John said, looking at her with his own determination. She hung her head for a moment, unable to meet his eyes after what she had done, then steeled herself because she would make this right. They'd get Rose out and stop the window and save both universes and everything was going to be all right. She would fix this like she always did. She grabbed John's hand. Her one constant in everything.

"There's a guard, right?" she asked the other Doctor in a whisper.

"There's one posted outside the door to this room," he said. "I imagine in the daytime there will be more, but right now it's a bit short-staffed."

"Right, that's good at least. We'll have to get the guard in here somehow though, yeah? Make a whole bunch of noise or something. Once he's in, I'll lure him over. Then, you grab him and hold him, while I get the keys out of his pocket. If he's the guard he's got to have some on him, yeah?"

"All right," the other Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah that could work."

She looked over at John who looked a bit miffed. "And what'll I do?" he asked.

She hesitated. She didn't know how to say nothing, but stay safe without having him blow up at her.

"Let me help!" he said.

"John-"

"I can help subdue the guard!" he insisted.

"Absolutely not." He glared at her, lips a thin line.

"Yeah, and why not?"

"He's a Time Lord," she said. "He's stronger. He can handle it just fine. You'll help plenty once we get out."

John suddenly got a rather odd look in his eye as he looked back and forth between her and the other Doctor. He seemed to deflate suddenly and he turned away a little. "Yeah, all right," he said softly. She hadn't meant to upset him by not letting him help, and her heart hurt a little just looking at his suddenly forlorn expression, but she stood by her decision.

The other Doctor was standing with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking just a touch awkward. She purposefully ignored his look and pushed on. "Now we just need to make some noise to get the guards in here. I was thinking the sonic? That should travel far enough."

He brightened. "Oh, absolutely!" he said, pulling it out of his pocket and twirling it between his fingers.

"Cover your ears," the brown-haired Doctor told John after he had it on the right setting. John obliged and then the brown-haired Doctor pushed the button. The tip lit up blue and a screeching sound wailed unbearably from the slim tool. It was incredibly loud and incredibly annoying, but she resisted the urge to cover her own ears. The other Doctor hadn't covered his and she didn't intend let him show her up.

He kept it going for a few minutes and just as she was starting to lose hope that the guard would come, her ears picked up the soft sounds of footsteps approaching over the screeching noise of the sonic. The other Doctor shut off the device and they could hear the footsteps increase in pace, a heaving sound of someone running towards them breathlessly accompanying the rhythmic slap.

"Wh-what," the guard said, leaning over and gasping for breath. "Was that noise?"

The blonde-haired Doctor put on her most charming grin.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: The blonde-haired Doctor still hasn't totally gotten over her issues, but hopefully this chapter will help to shed even more light on the reason for the differences between how the two Doctors are acting! **

**Chapter 8: Seeing Double**

It was hard not to watch her, despite the fact it made him feel a little disgusted with himself. Rose had been taken, was presumably being tortured, and still it was hard not to watch the other blonde-haired Doctor leaning seductively against the jail cell, coy smile on her lips. She looked so much like Rose...

John was glaring at him. Although he tried not to take it personally since the other man seemed to be glaring at the world right now. Him, the other Doctor, the guard, his shoes. Yet the brown-haired Doctor couldn't help but notice that John was having a hard time not watching her as well.

She held the two bars between her hands, face peaking out at the guard. She smiled brightly and in that moment all he could see was Rose. The blonde-haired Doctor's tongue peaked out of the corner of her mouth while she jutted out her chest enticingly. The guard's eyes zeroed in like a hawks and the Doctor watched the unsuspecting man take a small step forward. Imperceptibly, the brown-haired Doctor shifted a bit forward as well to be in closer range.

"Sorry about the noise," she was saying sweetly, wetting her lips with her tongue. "Just was going mad being trapped in here with these two. I needed someone...more interesting to talk to. More interesting to look at." Her finger trailed down the bar of the cell and she looked up at the guard through her eyelashes. A picture of innocence. It was captivating, really, and he didn't blame that guard one bit for taking another step towards her. Somewhere in the background John scoffed.

"What's your name?" she asked him, voice dropping in pitch. The man swallowed. "Anthony."

"Anthony," she repeated, rolling the name around her tongue in a way the brown-haired Doctor really thought should be illegal. Did Rose talk like that? No, focus. This was about saving Rose.

The man was so close now, just a few more steps...

She reached her hand out through the bars towards him, and the guard placed his hand in hers and just as quickly she yanked him forward. The brown-haired Doctor sprang into action quickly grabbing the man hard by his shirt and pulling him fully forward so his face was pressed against the bars. His eye widened in shock and fear. He started thrashing about but the brown-haired Doctor held him tightly. "Get the keys," he hissed.

The blonde-haired Doctor quickly ducked her hands in his pocket, rooting around. Her forehead creased as she searched. "And...Ha!" she said pulling out the keys. Both of them looked at the guard for a long second then at each other and mutually, without even having to say anything, they came to an agreement. Quickly he pushed the guard away just a tad and then yanked him forward again, hard. The guard's head hit the bar sickeningly and his eyes slid shut as he crumpled to the floor. The Doctor winced. "I'm sorry," he whispered. It was always unsettling however when he had to inflict the violence himself, necessary as it was.

The blonde-haired Doctor was already working on the lock. Once opened they quickly stepped out and searched over the man for anything useful. They found a few scan keys that they assumed might allow them access into more secure areas in the building and quickly took them. For a long, silent moment the Doctor considered taking the gun. If they were hurting her...if something was happening that he couldn't stop...just for insurance. He shuddered and finally pushed the dark thought away. He couldn't do it. Wouldn't. It's not what Rose would want.

Finally, he looked up to the blonde-haired Doctor with a smile. "We make a good team," he said. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed John visibly tense up.

"We do," she said, but her voice was distracted, obviously focused on the mission ahead. "We need a plan. As much as I hate to have to make one we need to go into this with the upper hand if we want to get Rose out."

He nodded. "Agreed."

"I have this," she said, holding up a small, round device.

He grinned broadly. "A Thrulian Mind Warp!" She grinned excitedly back.

"I know! Nicked it down in their cellar. Got to be careful though. They've reprogrammed it a bit, shoots out at a circle now. I...umm, accidentally laid John flat out on his back earlier with it. Seems a bit stronger too, he was a bit dizzy when he woke up." Out of the corner of his eye the brown-haired Doctor noticed the slightly embarrassed look on John's face.

"May I?" he asked, head tilting towards the device.

"Of course." She handed it to him and he quickly started running over it with the screwdriver.

"I'm programming in Rose's biological signature. Mine as well, so there won't be anymore accidents like that." He smiled apologetically at both of them. "I don't have either of yours unfortunately. If we get your sonic back, perhaps."

"They're probably keeping it in the basement, up there. That should be our first stop. If we want to stop the window, we're going to need materials from down there anyway."

The brown-haired Doctor shook his head. "No I need to find Rose. I can't leave her for that long."

She grimaced. "It might be best if we split up. You keep that and get her out of there."

"We promised to help!" John spoke up suddenly.

"It's all right," the brown-haired Doctor assured. "It'll be faster this way and I won't have to worry about knocking either of you out. Meet up at the window?"

"Yes," she said. "Good luck."

"And you."

"Wait! Wait!" John said, stopping them both then looked directly at him. "I'm coming with you."

At his words the change in the blonde-haired Doctor's stance was immediate, her whole body pulled taut as he bow. "No, you're not," she growled.

"Really I don think it's necess-" he started.

"You can't stop me," John said, voice rising over his own as he whirled around to his own Doctor.

"Like hell I can't."

"He's going to need help. If something happens and he gets caught or anything, we won't know. Then Rose stays trapped and he's trapped too. We can't risk that," John argued.

"If you go with him you risk getting yourself trapped. Then all three of you are trapped and what good will that do?" she said furiously.

"I think you better lis-"

"No, Doctor," John said slowly, "I think I'll be much more help if I go with him. I can help to distract the guards."

"No, no, no, no," the blonde-haired Doctor said shaking her head. "You're not to be used as _bait_." She turned to him, suddenly. "Tell him no!"

"I...It's a good plan," the brown-haired Doctor finally said quietly. As much as he would rather go himself, it would admittedly make him feel better to know he had back-up if things went wrong. Rose was too important to risk her life over his own arrogance.

The blonde-haired Doctor looked murderous. "Well, I say no and that's that. You would never let Rose do this!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You're right," he said voice calm and deadly. "I wouldn't, but you did." He turned to John. "You can come."

"Absolutely not!" the blonde-haired Doctor shouted, breathing heavily. John turned to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and with the other he cupped her cheek. She deflated under his calm touch. "Doctor," he said softly. "I'll be fine. I'm going. It's not like I haven't been in life threatening situations before, yeah?"

"Yeah, but now-" Her voice cracked over the words. John pulled her into a hug, whispering something the brown-haired Doctor couldn't make out into her ear.

He watched them both for a moment more, shifting nervously and then glanced away, uncomfortable. When he finally looked back to see they had pulled apart once more he caught the blonde-haired Doctor's worried eyes and said quietly, "If anything's happening...if we need your help," he tapped the corner of his head to help reassure her. She nodded, her eyes flashing a warning at him, then she turned back to John, gaze softening again.

"Be careful," she said to John. "Please."

"You too, Doctor." John reached out and gently put a piece of her hair behind her ear smiling reassuringly at her.

The brown-haired Doctor tapped his foot a little impatiently. Every second they wasted here was putting Rose's life more in danger. "C'mon," he said. "We can't waste anymore time."

"Right," she said. The hard edge had left her voice. All she seemed now was tired.

They made their way down the corridor of cells until they reached the door to get out. After checking that no one was outside, they made their way back up and into the cellar with the copious amount of alien tech. Without another word the other Doctor ran off to start gathering what they would need. Him and John continued on up.

"How're we goanna find her?" John asked him. The Doctor held up the sonic.

"Like I said, I've got her biological signature. We just follow the signal." He fiddled with it for a moment, until the tip started flashing blue. "C'mon," he said, leading his look-alike to the elevators.

"We can go up some of the floors this way. Then we take the stairs. I don't want to risk taking the elevator straight up and being deposited right in the hands of some guards."

"Right," John said.

They didn't talk much. The Doctor found it a bit disconcerting to be left alone with this other man without the buffer of Rose or the other Doctor. So he surprised himself a little when he suddenly said, "You're Doctor's a bit difficult, isn't she?" John snorted.

"Yeah, sometimes. But I-" he cut himself off quickly and the Doctor looked away.

"She's stubborn," the Doctor finally said after a few moments. "Like Rose."

"I imagine Rose would say the same about you," John said smirking a little. The Doctor laughed. "Yeah, I imagine she would."

"I'm sorry," John said suddenly. "About earlier...with Rose. I'm sorry we let them take her."

The brown-haired Doctor sighed. "It's all right. She was right in some ways. Your Doctor. Everything will get done faster having both of us free." Despite that, the Doctor was still feeling queasy about the whole ordeal.

"I don't think that's why she did it though," John said quietly. The Doctor looked at the other man in surprise. "No?"

He shook his head. "I know her. She would have never let someone take her place like that before. Things have been...different with her since you two showed up. She's not usually this on edge."

The Doctor couldn't say that he hadn't noticed this as well or that it hadn't been weighing on his mind. She was supposed to be him in a sense, and the whole time they had been here she had been nothing but short-tempered and, dare he say it, _jealous_. Okay, so he would be lying if he said that a little niggling jealousy hadn't been chipping away in the back of his own mind since they had gotten here (not that he would ever admit to it), but in the end he knew that him and Rose would leave this parallel world in no time and be back on their merry way to causing trouble across the universe. So, why couldn't this other Doctor seem to let it go? She was taking everything so very personally, letting emotions affect her better judgement when they were dealing with a potentially life or death situation here, bigger than that a universe destroying situation. Was her whiplash attitude a result of the role reversal in this universe or something more? At this point the Doctor was unsure. He just didn't _know_ enough of this universe to be able tell.

"Do you know why she's so an edge as you say? It can't just be because we're here otherwise I'd probably be having a similar reaction, and I'd say it's pretty obvious that for the most part I've been nothing but polite and respectable." He adjusted his tie a little as if this would enhance the point of how well mannered he has been.

John raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't think I'd go that far, but you definitely seem to be taking all this much better than she is."

"And I just can't figure out why that is," the Doctor mused. "I can understand some of it, but to go so far as to let Rose be taken when we have no idea what these people are capable of..." The Doctor shuddered, quickening his pace a little as he followed her signature.

John sounded almost a little embarrassed when he spoke up, "I'm afraid that she...might have done that for me, actually."

"Oh?" The Doctor couldn't hide his baffled surprise as he looked towards John. "Why's that?"

"There was...recently, someone said something about me...dying in battle. Ever since that, she's been...She's...just been more protective of late, I guess. Barely lets me leave her sight, just in case. It's all she seems to be able to focus on lately, the fact that she thinks she's going to lose me," John finally said quietly. "She said that she could sense a storm coming. I don't think she wanted to leave me because she's still scared, not that she would ever say as much."

The brown-haired Doctor swallowed hard in light of this revelation. Things starting to click into place in his head. "That hasn't happened to us yet," he said quietly. John blinked.

"What?"

"This universe, your universe, the major difference between it and my home universe is, well, obviously the reversal and the colors, but also time. It feels differently here to me because your universe runs ahead of mine and I'm a Time Lord and I'm attuned with it in my own home universe. Otherwise, things for the most part seem to be much the same and everything, every adventure you've had with your Doctor matches up with the ones I've had with Rose. Not that there aren't or can't be other differences that we just don't know of, but in relation to time the only real difference is how it flows. Whatever happened that you were talking about just now, it hasn't happened yet for Rose and I...But it will." He let out a long breath when he finished, his eyes dark.

"So you think that's what's making the difference here between both of you? A difference in experience?"

"I imagine so," the Doctor said swallowing.

"She told me...she said it lied though. She promised me that. So why is she still..." John trailed off helplessly.

The Doctor just shrugged starting to get a tad uncomfortable with the conversation. It was easy, even with just the glimpse of information John had given him, to imagine what the blonde-haired Doctor was feeling. And it was starting to unsettle him.

They were silent for the next few minutes till John said, "I was hoping that by coming with you I would help my Doctor realize that I could take care of myself. That she didn't have to worry so much. Also, I did feel badly about Rose. Feels like it's my fault in a way," he confessed quietly with a frown. Then the corners of his mouth quirked up just a tad, "She'd murder me if she knew I thought that. She always thinks she can take all the blame herself."

The Doctor swallowed again and said nothing. The more they talked the more that this conversation was starting to hit close to home and he wasn't liking it. John seemed to sense this and thankfully said no more.

They had been traveling up the stairs for awhile now, after the short elevator ride. As they got closer to the top, more and more guards started appearing, paroling around the floors. They expertly dodged around them, following the little signal from the screwdriver. "We're close," the Doctor said. By this point they were on the same floor as the window again and many more guards were strolling by. A few were posted outside the door with the window and then a few more outside another room.

"That's where Rose is," the Doctor said, pointing at the second room. "Must be, only other door with guards posted besides the lever room over there. I need to get in, but there's too many guards around. I would use this," he said, pulling out the Mind Warp, "but looking at the door, I have a feeling its reinforced. I don't think this'll be able to penetrate it and then it'd have to load up again. I'd rather save it for when I'm in there."

"Good thing I'm here then," John said.

"Indeed," the Doctor agreed. "You think you can lure them away? Maybe down a few floors?"

"Of course," John said.

"Be careful," the Doctor said suddenly. "I don't really fancy much getting on your Doctor's bad side if anything happens to you." He shuddered a little just at the thought. John let out another laugh.

"I will," he promised. "Get Rose out of there."

"I will," he repeated.

They studied each other for a brief moment, then John was shooting off down the corridor. He ducked around guards trying to stop him, taunting them. The guards at the door held their position and for a terrifying moment the Doctor thought they wouldn't take the bait. He let out a low sigh of relief when eventually they did. John was shooting off down the stairs now and with a wink to the brown-haired Doctor, led the guards down the stairs.

The Doctor fingered the device in his pocket for a moment then held the screwdriver up to the door unlocking it. It didn't work and he cursed softly until he saw the access pad on the side of the door. He prayed to all the gods he didn't believe in as he held up the little card he had nicked off the guard down stairs, and slid it down. The door beeped and a light flashed green. He breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the door in.

It was another white room, a table in the center and cupboards off to the side above a counter and sink. It looked like a medical room, the Doctor thought with dread. Yvonne was standing in her sharp suit by a man in a white lab coat, who was currently at a computer.

"Go deeper," she was saying, apparently not having noticed his quiet entrance.

That's when he saw Rose and his breath caught sharply in his throat. She was strapped down in a chair, a helmet device over her lolling head. She looked barely conscious.

"I don't think she can take much more. I think it would be wise to take a break."

"You'll go deeper if I tell you to go deeper." The man looked positively frightened as he started the machine again. Rose cried out and her back arched in the chair and the Doctor saw red. They were probing her mind.

"I think you better listen to your friend, Yvonne," he said, voice deadly. Both of them jumped at the sound of his voice. "Turn it off," he yelled loudly when they sat gaping at him.

Quickly the man complied, turning off the machine and Rose's screams turned into whimpers. He took a step closer to them and the lab coat man took a fearful step back. Yvonne met his gaze. "Guards," she yelled out, but the Doctor just laughed.

"They've gone on a little chase, I should think," the Doctor said coldly. He took another step closer. This time Yvonne stepped back.

"You could have taken a blood sample," he snarled at her. "What makes this necessary!"

"I wanted answers. I want to know why there's two of each of you. I wanted to know what you had planned!"

"Why her," he asked before he could stop himself. "Why not any of the rest of us?"

Yvonne looked surprised by the question and eyed him. "You two were the ones in the room with the window when we got here. You two seemed more of the threat at the time, the most suspicious. I thought she was the real Doctor."

"She's human," he said angrily. "Her mind can't take that kind of invasion you've just put her through. You could have killed her!"

Yvonne's eyes lit up, much to his disgust. "Human," she said. "How interesting. Does that mean the other one is the real Doctor?"

"I don't plan to give you time to find out." He pressed the button on the Mind Warp in his pocket and a bright green pulse emitted out and both Yvonne and the man cowering in the corner slumped to the floor. Immediately the Doctor was by Rose's side.

He took the hideous contraption off her, quickly. Taking her head gently in between his hands, he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks as she moaned and her eyes fluttered. "Rose," he said. "Rose, wake up. C'mon now."

"Doc-doctor," she slurred. He felt tears pricking his eyes despite himself.

"Yeah, it's me," he said, voice thick. Then she started giggling.

"You look funny," she said drunkenly. "Your heads all-" she hiccuped and dissolved into more giggles. Suddenly the Doctor was terrified that they had caused some kind of permanent damage on her brain and quickly he pulled out the sonic and scanned her over. She laughed as he did. "Pretty blue light, hehe."

The Doctor almost collapsed in relief when he saw the results. She would be okay. Just a bit out of it for awhile.

Suddenly the door was opening quietly. He whipped around, but was surprised when John slipped into the room. How had he...

"They should be taken care of for awhile," he said cheerfully, before the Doctor could say anything. "How is she?"

Rose started laughing again before the Doctor could answer or even begin to ponder how John had lost all of those guards so quickly. Then she pointed her finger between them. "Doctor," she said through hysterical giggles. "There's two of you!" She was howling by now. "T-thats only ever happened in my-in my fantasies!"

She passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am incredibly sorry this is a little late! I've been very busy recently and I still had a bit of editing I wanted to do on this chapter before I posted. However, to make up for it, I will probably post the next chapter either tomorrow or Monday. Part of the reason is also because the two chapter go together and I split them up because of the length. Also I'm sorry if my explanations for how they plan to save the world are a bit confusing, I did the best I could with them! Thanks for all your support! On with the chapter!**

**Chapter 9: Best laid Plans**

When Rose came to, her head was throbbing. The light was harsh on her eyes and she kept them squeezed tightly shut as a moan escaped her lips. A hand touched her shoulder lightly. "Rose." It was the Doctor's voice. She tried opening her eyes again but the light was still too bright. "My head," she whimpered.

Suddenly, she heard the Doctor's voice again, only this time it was a few meters away. She tried to wrap her mind around that, but couldn't quite manage it. "Oh right," he was saying, his voice getting closer. "This should help, Rose." She heard the sound of the sonic and immediately her brain didn't feel like it was trying to break out of her skull anymore. Now she just had a dull headache.

She tried opening her eyes again and two pairs of concerned brown orbs swam into focus. Her eyebrows furrowed. "There are two of you?" she questioned. For some reason this made both Doctor's glance away embarrassedly.

"Just give it a second," one of the Doctor's said. "You're memories will start coming back." She concentrated on trying to piece together what was going on. As the memories slowly trickled back into her brain she let out a little, "Oh."

She studied them both for a second and then pointed at the one with the duller suit. "Doctor," she said. He beamed at her like she had just explained Quantum Mechanics to him. "Very good." She pointed to the other and said, "John." He smiled too, albeit less widely. "Yes," he agreed.

"Where's...?" she trailed off, wonderingly. John's face immediately fell, and he looked away. The Doctor still looked rather cheerful, though. "Oh, she's just fetching us some parts to help shut down this window. She'll be up soon. I better get back actually," he said apologetically, pointing at the computer.

When he was once again entrenched in his work, Rose looked to John. "Here," he said, holding out a cup of water to her. "You'll feel better." She took the cup gratefully and carefully sipped the water, letting it soothe her parched throat.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome." His voice was distant and she noticed that his fingers were fidgeting and that his eyes glanced restlessly around the room, never settling on one place for long.

"Are you all right?" she asked him, concernedly. He shrugged.

"She's just been awhile is all. And all the guards out there..." he trailed off.

"You're worried," she said sympathetically. He nodded.

"She'll be okay." He gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while. The only sound was the Doctor muttering to himself and tapping rapidly at the controls, getting things ready. When either of them offered to help, he made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat that both of them took as a no.

"Where's Yvonne at?" Rose asked suddenly.

Her Doctor looked up and his face was dark, absolutely livid. "She's taken care of for now." His tone of voice said it was no longer to be discussed. Rose silently took another sip of her water.

Minutes passed and Rose was starting to get restless, eager to help in some way. The Doctor, however, always just shooed her away as he checked over the levers and programmed things to his liking. John, by this point was pacing.

"Where is she?" he blurted out suddenly and both Rose and the Doctor jumped in surprise.

"She'll be here...just give her time," the Doctor assured him. John didn't look convinced.

"All the guards down there. She could have been caught. Let me go find her!" he pleaded, already moving towards the door. The Doctor shook his head.

"Better if you didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if there are guards outside that door by now trying to find a way in. Not that they'll get in after I messed with the access panel out there, but still. You can't."

"We can't just leave her." His voice cracked.

"She'll be here," the Doctor repeated firmly without looking up from where he studied the computer screen intently.

"How do you know? How will she even get passed the guards outside this room right now?" Just as the Doctor opened his mouth again to reply there was a familiar wheezing sound and then another Tardis materialized next the one already occupying the room. Rose's Doctor smirked and said, "I assume she'll take the quick way."

John's Doctor stepped out of the Tardis looking a bit frazzled, carrying an armful of alien technology. "Ah, hello. Sorry, tried to get here sooner but the Tardis didn't really want to land so close to another Tardis, but I managed. Oh! Everyone's already here! Good. Glad to see you're all right, Rose." Rose blinked, a bit surprised by the sentiment seeing as how the other Doctor hadn't really seemed too fond of her the whole time they had been here, although, she supposed the other woman wasn't cruel enough to want to see her hurt either. She strolled into the room setting down the equipment and, immediately, before she could say or do anything else John had scooped her up for a hug.

"Oh!" she said. "Hello."

"Hello," John said, eyes intent on her. The blonde-haired Doctor looked at him worriedly, her eyes furrowed in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, you just...you were taking so long..." he looked away, blushing lightly, "I was worried."

"Ah," she said. "Well, no need to be. Let's save the world again, yeah?" John grinned, if a little shakily.

"So," the brown-haired Doctor cut in loudly. "What have you got for me!"

The blonde-haired Doctor grinned smugly, holding up a contraption. "Whipped this baby up with some parts I found down there. That's what took so long. This'll help monitor the stability of both universes as we open the window."

Rose's Doctor looked over the odd contraption, grinning like mad. "Oh, but this is brilliant!" The blonde-haired Doctor smiled. "Also," she said. "Brought these." She indicated four large black contraptions.

"Magna-clamps!" the brown-haired Doctor said, gleefully.

"What do they do?" Rose asked.

Her Doctor quickly picked one up and demonstrated how it connected to the wall. "You see," he said. "We can't just suck back the pollution from our side and deposit it back into this universe. It's too unbalanced. Very dangerous, and if Torchwood had kept it going, our universe would have, for lack of a better word, popped and this universe would have deflated connected as it is at the moment to our universe. It's like, if you had two balloons attached on either side of a hollow rod, the air pressure would stay stabilized on both sides and things would be happy. But if one side started pushing some of its air to the other side, that balloon would pop! And then all the air would rush out of the other balloon."

"But," the blonde-haired Doctor took over, "if we simply try to pull back in the pollution from that side we would still be facing the same problem, unable to control the influx of pollution and air that we take from the other universe. So we would still be in danger of upsetting the balance of both universes. What we want instead is to have a consistent flow of air back and forth between both universes, while we have the window open, until it naturally balances itself out. We have to not only suck back the pollution we sent over to your side, but we also need to have this side sucking in to balance it out. The pollution that was initially ours is steeped in void stuff and it will now settle down naturally in the void itself and then the remaining flow of air can balance itself between the two universes until once again it's at equilibrium. Where the problem comes in is that we are also seeped in void stuff, since all of us have been through the void at one time or another."

"So," the brown-haired Doctor cut in eagerly again, "we would be sucked in from this side. But with these, we'll just have to hang on tight and wait for it to be over. Once done, we can head back to our own universe, Rose, and the window will close permanently on our way back."

"Easy-peasy," the blonde-haired Doctor said excitedly. Rose and John exchanged a look.

"If you say so," Rose said with a shrug.

"Everything set up on your end?" the blonde-haired Doctor asked, gesturing to the computer. The brown-haired Doctor nodded. "Almost, need to reconfigure the couplings in the levers and do a quick check on these equations and then we should be set to go." He turned suddenly to her and John clapping his hands.

"John, Rose you two can get started on stripping a couple of wires for me here in this lever. Doctor, I need you to look over these," he said indicating the screen. She nodded and got to work. "Oh, and can I borrow your sonic?" he said smiling charmingly. She rolled her eyes, but held it out to him.

"Now you want our help," Rose said teasingly to her own Doctor when he turned back to them, and he smiled widely at her and thrust out the spare sonic in her direction. He showed them how to strip the wires and then began doing the same to the other lever.

Rose worked with John in companionable silence for a few moments. Her Doctor was humming to himself a few feet away as he worked and Rose couldn't help grinning to herself just a little. Even the blonde-haired Doctor seemed to be in a a better mood at the moment. What had changed, Rose wondered?

"So," Rose said quietly to John, unable to contain her curiosity. "What happened after I was taken?"

John looked away guiltily. "Oh Rose. I'm really very sorry about that."

"No worries. I'm all right." She waved off his concern.

They worked in silence for a few more moments, the only sounds the furious ticking away at the computer and the whirring and buzzing of the sonic. Rose was beginning to think he wouldn't answer.

"Things were...tense. That's the only word I can think to describe it," he finally said softly. "Your Doctor, well, he obviously wasn't too happy. Very, very angry actually. And upset. He...they both...well there was some yelling until they had both calmed down enough to think of a plan." John snorted. "After that they worked like a well-oiled machine, not that they seemed to particularly like each other, but they united to get out of that cell and get you free." He offered her a small, sad smile. "It was a sight really, they were...so in sync with each other like they could read the other's mind. Although...I don't know maybe they could."

Rose was a bit taken aback by this and a little niggling jealousy began creeping in her stomach, despite herself. It was irrational, totally misguided, but there nonetheless. At this point she was so used to them not getting along that she didn't know how to act in light of the fact that they were now on the same page with one another. John seemed slightly troubled as well which only served to light up her own worries.

Rose was slightly surprised when they had finished with all the wires, to see how close her and John had huddled together to talk privately. She stood up to put a bit of space between them (it was just so easy to forget sometimes that he wasn't the Doctor) and her eyes immediately connected with the other, blonde-haired Doctor's eyes. Her lips were pursed and her face was tight. Her eyes sad. This time however instead of scowling or hurling a nasty comment at Rose, she simply looked away. Rose felt a pang in her heart. It was rather frightening, to see her own face, with such emotions reflecting back at her.

Surely this other Doctor didn't think...

Oh, but she would, wouldn't she? She was so much like her own Doctor in this way; so full of jealousy and self-sacrifice and loneliness. No wonder this blonde-haired Doctor hadn't liked her. Had never liked her. Not when she was such a brutal reminder of the normal human life John was missing out on. In the worst of ways too, seeing as how Rose looked like her. Seeing them laughing and talking together. The life he could have. That she thought he should have. That she thought she couldn't give him. One with a normal human girl. So much like her own Doctor indeed. Torn between being desperate to keep him with her, or leave him behind for his own good. How often had Rose seen her own Doctor struggle with the same thing? Pushing her away in one breath and pulling her back in with the next. A certain trip to seventeenth century France came to mind...

At the same time, however, it was so much more than that. This Doctor, she seemed so much more terrified about something, so quick to anger and lash out. Rose couldn't help wondering what had her so afraid? Did the blonde-haired Doctor really see her as such a threat? Could she not so easily see the naked admiration and love that John held for her? Her own Doctor seemed rather, well, not _unconcerned_, but certainly not as worried in comparison, and he, himself, had a tendency to get jealous at times too. So what had happened, Rose wondered, to make her other self so hung up on it?

John was looking at his Doctor as well, Rose noticed, his eyes worried as he took in her crestfallen expression. He seemed just about ready to step forward to her when suddenly the brown-haired Doctor shouted, "All right!" He bounced towards them all, grinning like a maniac, seemingly unaware of the tense atmosphere. "We'll need those windows, the glass ones that is, opened. You do that, Doctor. I'll set up the magna-clamps."

The blonde-haired Doctor nodded somewhat curtly, and without saying anything, turned and walked briskly to the glass room. Rose could see that John was watching her every move with apprehension.

"I'll help you," he called behind her back, quickly catching up to her. Both of them scurried off to the other room.

Rose hurried to help her own Doctor get some last minute details in place and was able to push the thoughts of their other selves out of her mind while she focused on the tasks ahead. Once done, her own Doctor started fidgeting slightly. "Nervous?" Rose asked, grinning. He shrugged. "Not really. Just eager to get started. More time we wait the worse it gets."

They sat in silence together, sitting on top of one of the desk, pressed together thigh to thigh. Rose grabbed his hand to calm his fidgeting. It was nice, being alone together again. All the tension and confusion with their other selves was starting to get to her and Rose was definitely more than ready to get back to their home universe and have it be just the two of them again, saving the world.

"What is taking them so long?" her Doctor demanded. "They're just opening windows!"

He turned to look into the glass room and promptly squeaked, turning back so quickly he almost fell off his perch on the desk. His face was shocked and embarrassed, mortified even. It was the closest she thinks that he has ever come to blushing. Rose looked at him amused. "What?" she asked. She turned to look herself, only feeling a tad guilty for invading the privacy of their other selves (even though they were behind a glass door, so really) and she gaped at what she saw. Well, that was certainly a quick change from the tense atmosphere that had existed just a few minutes ago.

They were...kissing.

It was unbelievably tender they way they were holding each other, the way their lips seemed to be gliding over one another's. Rose felt her own cheeks heating up just watching them. She felt like she should turn away. The moment felt unbelievably private, but she was frozen, couldn't make herself move. They pulled apart slowly, only to come together again and again. Rose watched as the kiss broke off and they brought their foreheads to rest together, eyes still closed, and breath mingling. Rose felt her chest tighten at the sight, because while this was an alternate universe and the people in that room weren't them, Rose and the Doctor, they were still a version of them. It looked like them. What she was seeing, that's what it would look like to others if they watched her and the Doctor kiss. She couldn't erase the image from her mind even if she had wanted to.

After a moment they pulled apart completely and she watched the blonde-haired Doctor, her look-alike, place a hand on John's cheek. John raised his own hand to hold her's in place. They said something to each other then, but Rose couldn't make it out. Finally, thankfully, Rose managed to tear her eyes away.

She didn't dare look at her own Doctor when she turned back around. His hand was still in hers, but he was incredibly tense beside her, his palm almost twitching in hers as if he wanted to pull it away, but couldn't decide if that would make it even more weird or not. She could tell that he wanted to run from her, but this time there was nowhere to run, no console to hide behind. They sat there in the most uncomfortable silence that Rose thought they had ever sat in before.

Their other selves emerged a few minutes later. Her Doctor sprung into action, quickly spouting out different direction and equations to diffuse any lingering awkwardness. She imagined their other selves weren't really listening to him, though. Both of them were flushed and breathless, grinning and sneaking glances at one another. Rose swallowed, unsure what to think. Unsure what to feel.

Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, Rose tried to focus on the plan and not on the incredible turn of events that had just taken place. There were two magna-clamps on each side. One close to the lever and then one staggered behind it a little ways away, closer to the computers. "I'll take this one," her Doctor was saying, pointing to one closer to the computers, "I want to be able to check and make sure everything is stabilized. Plus I can start the process from here. Two of you will have to engage the levers once I have, then after that...Well, hold on tight."

"We'll do the levers," the blonde-haired Doctor said, "John and I." She positioned herself at the lever, gripping the magna-clamp that was in front of the one Rose's Doctor was currently at.

"Good, good. You take that lever, John...excellent. And Rose you'll be behind him," the brown-haired Doctor said, directing them into place.

"What do I need to do?" Rose asked. Her Doctor's brown eye's pierced her and he said seriously, "Hold on tight. That goes for all of you," he said, looking around the room. "Are we ready, then?"

"Ready!" Rose replied immediately with a bright smile at everyone.

"Ready," John echoed with a small smile of his own, eyes quickly finding his own Doctor to give her a tender look.

They all turned to the blonde-haired Doctor. "Of course, I'm ready," she said, scoffing at them, but her accompanying smile was teasing and tongue-touched. It was the lightest she had looked the whole time they had been here.

"All right, then," Rose's Doctor said exuberantly. "Allons-y!"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here's the next chapter as promised. The one after this will be up on Friday as normal. Also I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It had to be done.**

**Ch. 10 ...Of humans and Time Lords**

The brown-haired Doctor began pressing keys on the computer rapidly and an automated voice came overhead and said, _Initiating Shift_. "Hit the levers," the Doctor commanded.

Rose watched as John and the blonde-haired Doctor pulled back the levers until they were completely upright, snapping into place with a click. The automated voice came back overhead and said, _Engaging Levers_.

Rose grasped the magna-clamp tightly as a breeze started whipping her hair around her face, steadily growing stronger. The white wall before them was splitting, getting brighter and brighter as air started to greedily get sucked in. She let out a startled gasp when the suction grew strong enough to whip her bodily around.

Over the roaring in her ears from the wind, Rose could vaguely make out her own Doctor's delighted laughter. It was contagious and she found herself laughing along with him. Blood coursing in her veins, the rush and excitement pulsing in her body, the adrenaline building as she was jerked back and forth, knuckles white from holding on so tightly. She laughed again, feeling exhilarated.

Rose's eyes squinted as she looked to where the white wall formerly was. The light was bright and hard to look at directly as it spread and opened to encompass the whole wall. The two Doctor's were shouting back and forth at each other as they worked to keep everything stable. Rose was focusing on keeping as upright as possible and making sure her fingers didn't slip as the suction grew steadily stronger till her hair was whipping constantly in her eyes and her legs would periodically lose purchase on the ground, until she could once again find traction with her shoes.

There was a sudden jolting sound and Rose startled, gripping the magna-clamp tighter. The automated voice came back on and said, _Lever Offline_, in that clipped tone. Rose could feel the sudden decrease in the suction around them. She squinted her eyes to the other side, trying to jerk her head around to get her hair to whip out of the way so she could see. The lever on the other sides was still perfectly upright. That meant the problem was on their side.

"It's destabilizing!" her Doctor shouted over the noise, stumbling about as he tried to read the computer screen from his perch on the magna-clamp. His voice was panicked. "You need to get the lever back up!"

"I've got it!" she heard John shout through gritted teeth. With one hand he grasped the magna-clamp tightly and he reached out as far as he could with his other hand, finger's brushing the top of the lever.

"Hurry!" her Doctor shouted, at the same time that the other Doctor was yelling, "Hold on!"

Rose watched wide-eyed as John strained his arm further, a small grunt escaping his lips, as he grabbed ahold of the lever. He jerked his arm, gripping the lever back in an awkward disjointed manner, and was able to get the lever upright again, indicated by the firm snap into place. Immediately the suction started back up, stronger than ever. John's position was too precarious, stretched out between the lever and the magna-clamp as he was, and he struggled to regain a good grip on the magna-clamp. Rose watched in horror as his fingers slipped from the black handle of the magna-clamp. John gasped and he fumbled to catch himself on the lever, and she heard over the roaring wind, gasps of relief when he did, both his hands wrapping around the black, cushioned tip.

His legs flew out from under him, the vicious suction from the void too strong to allow him to keep himself upright. His fingers scrabbled desperately at the lever's handle. Rose was face to face with him now and she found herself looking into his eyes, their brown depths full of fear and shock. He turned slightly, breaking their contact, and locking eyes with his own Doctor, whose hoarse shouts of "hold on, John," were piercing the rush of wind. Rose followed his gaze to the blonde-haired Doctor, her face tight with fear. "Hold on!" she shouted at John again.

It was no use though. Rose turned back just in time to watch his finger's slip from the lever.

Everything went in slow motion after that. Rose could practically see each individual finger give way, wrenched from the lever under the pressure, the relentless pulling and pulling of the void. She heard her voice shouting, "John! John!" though her own mouth hadn't formed the words. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a hand, helplessly reaching out. A fruitless attempt to help him. She could hear John's own panicked shouting.

There was nothing anyone could do as the void swallowed him up.

Immediately after, as if finally satisfied with its meal, the pulling and sucking stopped and the bright light crumpled in on itself, leaving the same, mundane white wall behind.

Everything was completely silent and still.

"N-no." The blonde-haired Doctor's voice was choked, arising up out of the chilling silence. "No. No, no, no, no." Rose couldn't bear to look at her, the women with her face, as she fell apart. So instead, Rose stared at the white wall, and when she could no longer bear that either she closed her eyes.

Choked sounds and refusals and quiet, desperate pleas, were the only things to break the deafening silence. Still, Rose didn't look, didn't move. She didn't think there was any blood left in her hands she was gripping the magna-clamp so hard.

She could still see his frightened face behind her eyelids, fearful as he fell, as he was sucked into the void. Into nothingness. Rose had to remind herself repeatedly that it hadn't been her Doctor, only a man with his face that had fallen. A horrible, selfish part of her couldn't help but be grateful for that.

Careful, familiar fingers gently unclasped her hands from the death grip she had on the magna-clamp. They rubbed firmly over her white skin trying to get the circulation flowing again. Once the Doctor, her Doctor, had dropped them she buried her face in his jacket, wrapping her arms tightly around his middle and inhaled his familiar scent. He hugged her back just as tightly, as they both tried to bury themselves deep enough into one another so they wouldn't have to listen to the heartbreaking wailing of the blonde-haired woman.

"It's not fair! Bring him back!" they heard her shout and both of them jumped a little, startled by the outburst. She was banging her fist against the white wall.

"Is he...dead?" Rose whispered, voice small and quiet, muffled from where her face was pressed into his jacket.

"No," she heard the Doctor whisper back. "He's slipped through a crack to the other side. To our world." Rose gasped and hope filled her chest.

"What! How d'you know!" she asked, amazed, looking up into his solemn eyes.

"It's my universe. I'm a Time Lord and I'm attuned to it. It might be a dull feeling at the moment, but I can sense the temporal disturbance in our universe. I'm sure of it," he whispered. "Oh, Rose. He got very, very lucky."

"Doctor we can get him, though. If he's in our universe we can get him and bring him back!" she said, not understanding why his face was still set so grim. Everything would be okay. They could fix this, they could.

He cupped her cheek. "No, Rose we can't. When we go back through, we have to close the window permanently. He's trapped on our side."

Rose's bottom lip trembled. She glanced to the grieving Time Lady whose hand was pressed against the white wall with silent tears streaming down her face. "No, no there has to be a way!" she said, refusing to give up. "We can...why can't we just keep it open a little longer. Enough to get him and bring him back. Doctor, please. Look at her!" As much as the blonde-haired Doctor had been unkind the entire time they had been here, Rose never would have wished such a thing to happen to her. She could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose the Doctor.

Her Doctor currently was shaking his head. "If we tried we would collapse two universes Rose. I'm so sorry, but she knows she'll never see him again."

"Oh my god," Rose breathed, tears flooding her eyes.

They were both silent for a moment, still holding each other. The other Doctor was choking out sobs and muttering words they couldn't hear, and neither wished to disturb her grief, while at the same time Rose was aching to do something. Comfort her in some way.

"Does she know," Rose said after a long moment. "That he's in our universe now. Or does she think..."

"She wouldn't know," he finally said after a moment. "She wouldn't be able to tell, since it's not her universe."

"So she thinks...we have to tell her. You have to explain," Rose hissed, upset that they had already gone this long letting the poor Time Lady think...

Her Doctor hesitated again, then said carefully, "I don't...think she would really want to talk to me right now." Rose's eyes widened in understanding. "You should tell her," he finally said. "She needs to know."

"I'll try," Rose whispered with trepidation. The blonde-haired Doctor hadn't seemed to be very fond of her, but Rose couldn't let her think that...no, she had to help however she could.

The blonde-haired Doctor was huddled up on the floor now and Rose's heart ached just looking at her. She didn't look up at the sound of Rose's footsteps, just buried her head in her hands as she sobbed.

Rose sat down gingerly next to her, then very carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. She tensed up, but said nothing. "He's not dead," Rose finally said, softly. The other Doctor shrugged off her hand and shook her head back and forth. "My Doctor," Rose continued hesitantly. "He said...he said he could sense it or something. Some temporal...whats-it in our universe. He said...he said he's sure. He said that John is safe...on our side."

The blonde-haired Doctor was still and silent for a long time, slowly she looked up to Rose. Her red, tear-stained eyes suddenly had a spark in them. Something like hope, and Rose felt uneasy.

"I'll bring him back," she whispered. "I'll go through the void and I'll bring him back." The uneasiness in Rose's stomach grew tenfold. The blonde-haired Doctor's eyes were wild and fierce, piercing into her own and Rose shrank back.

"I don't think you can," Rose whispered hesitatingly. "My Doctor said...when we go back through we have to close the window for good. He said both universes would collapse if we didn't." Rose had a lump in her throat. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't bring him back," the other Doctor snarled. "No, your sorries are good for nothing." She stood up, her face smeared with makeup and made her way to the brown-haired Doctor who looked wary at her sudden approach.

"You're going to bring him back," she said, voice low and deadly. "This is your fault for coming here in the first place! You're going to bring. him. back." On each word she jabbed him viciously in the chest and Rose winced.

Her Doctor for his part just looked sad as he gently grabbed her hand so she would stop poking him. "You know I can't," he said regretfully.

"No, don't say that. Don't. Bring him back. Bring him back," she was yelling, struggling to get away from his grasp, her eyes spilling over with tears again. "The universe can collapse! I don't care. Just bring him back!"

Her Doctor had closed his eyes by this point a pained expression on his face as she yelled at him and demanded he get John, ripping her arms free from his and banging brutally on his chest. Rose almost stepped forward to intervene, but suddenly her Doctor's mouth opened and a sweet, melodious sound came forth from his mouth, one that Rose couldn't even begin to describe. It was like honey dripping from his tongue, the different notes slipping and sliding around each other, floating in the air. The blonde-haired Doctor stood completely still and stiff at the sound, hands still raised midway to another hit.

Her anger seemed to just burn out of her, so hot and short-lived, at the sound. "Please," she was saying now, eyes filled with tears. "Please." She collapsed against his chest sobbing, and he gently caught her and held her.

"I'm sorry," he was murmuring. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Please," she said again. "Please take care of him."

"We will," he promised, voice so utterly sincere. "We will."

And with that Rose felt her heart break.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter was really inspired by the song I quoted below. It's great and I would definitely recommend listening to it to get a feel for this chapter! **

**Ch. 11: Breaking Down**

_Madness fills my heart and soul,_

_As if the great divide could_

_Swallow me whole_

_Oh, how I'm breaking down._

_~Sleeping Sickness by City and Colour_

They offered to get him an identification set up in this world. They offered to buy him a flat. They offered to get him a job. They offered to make him a life. 'What's the point?' he wanted to ask. It's not like any of it would be real, anyway. He had a life back in his universe; He had a home. One that didn't involve flats and jobs and identification and...

Finally they offered him a room on the Tardis and he consented.

When he had first started traveling with the Doctor (_his_ Doctor, and oh, it still hurts more than he thinks he can possibly bear), she told him the Tardis would set up his room for him based on the preferences in his mind. It had made him feel a little uneasy at first that her ship was going to be in his head, but when he had opened the door to his bedroom that first time he had had been blown away. It was everything he had ever imagined his room looking like, but never had been able to afford. Beautiful mahogany furniture, a bed with a thick blue duvet, a bookshelf stocked full, and a little sofa and chair set up by a burning fire. The Doctor had smiled when she had seen it and said it suited him.

John opened a door now, universes away from that happy memory, to see that same room again, and he slammed the door shut so fast and so hard that it rattled in it's frame. He collapsed to the floor against the wall, putting his head in his hands, and promptly dissolved into tears. The room was exactly the same, but this wasn't his Tardis and this wasn't his universe, and dammit nothing was ever going to be the same again.

It was some time later that Rose found him asleep in the corridor with dried tears on his face. She woke him up, her face sympathetic, and for one second while his brain was still fuzzy and trying to wake up he thought it was his Doctor and she'd come back for him like he knew she would and...

His face crumpled immediately when he realized the truth. He didn't know if he wanted to reach out for this impostor, or beg her to leave him alone. He was incapable to decide, so she did it for him.

"C'mon sweetheart," she said, "let's get you in bed." She hauled him up, holding her hand around his waist to steady him and he leaned against her gratefully. She started to push open the door he had been leaning against and panicking slightly he said, "Don't." His voice was raspy and choked and he wasn't quite sure when the last time was that he'd drank something, or eaten for that matter. He also thought that might have been the first time he'd said anything since he'd arrived here. How long ago was it? Days? Weeks? Hours? If he cared enough he would have asked.

"All right," Rose said, softly. "How about I put you in a room next to mine? How's that?"

He said nothing in return, but followed her as she led him down the corridor. "This is my room," she said quietly, pointing at the wooden door with the intricately carved rose on it. "If you need anything come and get me, okay?"

He still said nothing. What was there to say?

She then lead him to the room right next to hers as promise and opened the door to a (blessedly) basic room. He collapsed on the bed, exhausted, face first into the pillow and without even turning the covers down. He heard Rose sigh and then felt her gently turning him over on the bed. Her fingers began deftly removing his converse and then worked on the buttons of his suit jacket, then the oxford underneath that, leaving him in just a thin T-shirt. She hesitated for a moment, then undid the button and zip on his trousers as well, sliding the material down his bony hips. He lifted up a little so she could get them all the way down, so beyond caring enough to be embarrassed.

"This should be okay just for tonight," she whispered, gesturing to the pants and T-shirt he was still in. He said nothing, just blinked at her. "We'll get you something clean tomorrow all right?"

'What's the point?' he wanted to ask again.

"Goodnight," Rose said after she had him tucked in under the covers.

She left him then and he felt equal parts relieved and terrified.

He didn't try to sleep, though he was exhausted. All he could think about was that last moment that they had talked. When they had finally kissed. He played it in his head over and over, afraid he'd forget the feel of her lips on his if he stopped thinking about it for even a moment. Afraid he'd forget the way it had felt to be wrapped around one another, sinking and falling and...

_"I'll help you," John offered quickly, chasing after her retreating form into the glass office._

_The Doctor was silent, eyes purposefully avoiding his own. John knew this would be the last time they were alone until this was all over and that if he didn't talk to her now then they would never talk about what had happened here ever again. He closed the door shut and looked at the glass wall for a long moment and wished they had somewhere more private to talk. This was the best they would get, it seemed._

_He helped her open the windows, quickly unhooking latches and moving the stiff squeaky glass upwards and out of the way, as he built his courage to say what needed to be said._

_"Doctor," he finally said after a moment, his voice only the slightest bit wobbly, betraying his nerves._

_"Hmm," she replied, messing with fixtures and settings on her screwdriver. Her eyes still would not meet his. _

_"Umm," he rubbed the back of his neck. "You need to talk to me," His words grew steadily stronger as he went. "You need to tell me what's been bothering you."_

_"John," she sighed, in that voice that said this topic of conversation was not up for discussion. John normally would heed this warning and tiptoe around the forbidden subject with the grace of a dancer, but this time he would not allow things to be buried under the proverbial rug._

_"Doctor, there's been something wrong ever since they got here. More than you've been telling me. You've not been yourself. I just want to help. What's wrong? Really, what's wrong?"_

_"It's all been a bit unsettling, yeah," she grumbled moodily. Her eyes once again focused on what she was adjusting with the sonic (or rather her most convenient avoidance tactic). He took a step closer to her and grabbed her hand, confidence surging through him at the familiar contact. Finally, her eyes looked up again to meet his. He took a breath._

_"Please," he whispered. "This once don't shut me out. Please." He gazed at her entreatingly, trying to convey with his eyes that he was here, that all he wanted was to help._

_"It doesn't matter, John," she sighed. "Soon this will all be over anyway, yeah?"_

_"Yes and that's what I'm afraid of," John whispered. "We'll just move on like we always do and forget this ever even happened, right Doctor?"_

_She said nothing._

_"I don't want you to shut me out. We're," he hesitated, "...friends. Best friends. And whatever it is, be it what the beast said...or-or anything Doctor, we can face it. Together. Please, just let me in."_

_He watched as her face flickered lightning fast through a myriad of different emotions until finally settling on reluctant acceptance. Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she looked down to her shoes. "You're human," she finally said quietly looking back up, eyes unable to meet his, but instead drifting somewhere past his right shoulder. John swallowed. It was the axe hanging over their head, the truth they had both been running from for so very long. Always there, lingering in the back of their minds as a constant source of heartbreak. John felt fear and trepidation fill his stomach at the direction of the impending conversation, but he had asked for this, begged her to let him help, to carry the burden with her, and he wouldn't back down now, no matter how much it hurt. Quietly, he replied, "I am."_

_"I've told you," she continued sadly, "our lives, they don't match up. I'll probably live for centuries after you're long gone. I'm going to lose you, just like the beast said." John closed his eyes. It got no less easy to hear, which is why for the most part they had always avoided the topic altogether. "Our other selves, they're a reminder," she said bitterly, "a reminder of that." She cupped his cheek suddenly, eyes intense on him, and involuntarily he felt his face heat up. "How many worlds do you think are out there John, how many variations do you think there are of that same truth: of me and you, and always that same ending? That same inevitability? How many more worlds do you think there are, where we don't get a happy ending?"_

_Unbidden he felt his eyes tear up and his throat close. "I don't know," he said shakily. She smiled sadly at him._

_"Rose is human and every time I see you both together, laughing or joking, I think that's right. That's how it should have been for this all to be right. You deserve that life, John, with a normal human girl and all the things she could give you. Not to end up dying in battle one day. Sometimes the universes messes up, it gets it wrong and I can't help thinking-"_

_"S-stop," John said, horrified, a tear dropping down his cheek. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that this, me being with you, is a mistake." John brought his hand up to cover where hers still cupped his cheek and he closed his eyes. "Don't you understand that I want to be with you? In the Tardis. That's the life I want."_

_"I know you think it is now-"_

_John's eyes snapped open. "I told you I want to be with you forever," he said. "Does that mean nothing to you?"_

_"Of course not," she breathed, her words so utterly sincere. "But John our forevers don't match. Can never match. Not while you're human and I'm Time Lord. All I'm saying is seeing you with Rose, all I can think is that she is me, in a way, and that both of you could spend your lives together, as should be."_

_"So what are you saying?" John snapped, pulling away slightly so that her hand dropped from his face. "That we should switch? I get Rose and you want the Time Lord me because you could both stay with each other forever?" His face held betrayal._

_"No!" the Doctor said, looking horrified. "No of course not! Why would I want him? We would drive each other spare in minutes. If you haven't noticed, we haven't exactly gotten along..."_

_"Not from where I'm standing," John said bitterly. "Just now you were practically finishing each other's sentences. And back with the guard, you were so...in sync with each other."_

_The Doctor laughed, although it seemed a little forced. "John, silly John. I haven't spent the last few years traveling with the Time Lord you." Her voice became increasingly serious. "I have spent them traveling with you. The brilliant human, you. John Smith. That's who I want. Always."_

_John could hardly get words past the lump in his throat, his face holding surprise at such a confession coming from her. "Yeah?" he whispered._

_"Of course."_

_"What about what you said? About Rose?" He was holding his breath as the words tripped hurriedly out of his mouth._

_"I said it was a reminder," she said looking away, "and a painful one at that because I know it's the life I should give you. I should drop you off back home and let you live a normal life. More importantly, I should drop you off at home and keep you safe from me." He went to interrupt her, but she held her hand up. "Just let me finish. It's the life I would want for you, the life you deserve if I wasn't so selfish. But I am. So, so selfish. And like I told you before, you can spend the rest of your life with me. And I meant that. Having them here was just a reminder of how selfish I'm being. That's why I wanted them gone so fast...I couldn't bear watching you with her," she admitted._

_"Doctor," he whispered breathless, barely daring to hope. Her eyes connected with his and he grabbed her hands. "How can you not understand that I don't want a normal life? I want to be with you," he said fervently. "I don't want a house and a mortgage. I don't want Rose. I want you. I am never going to leave you," he said, adamantly._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Yes." He cupped her cheek and before he could second guess himself he closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to hers, lips touching hesitantly, gently together. He could feel her stiffen at the touch and panic flooded him that he had gone too far, overstepped the boundary, and he was just about to pull back when she sighed against his lips._

_He gasped in surprise as she pressed back into his touch and he quickly reciprocated, eagerly pressing his lips harder to hers. The room and the windows and the lack of privacy faded away as he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as their mouths moved together. It was slow and sweet, lips brushing, fingers tangling in hair, and low moans into the other's mouth, and it was everything he had ever wanted. Everything he had ever imagined._

_When she pulled away after a moment, he quickly leaned back in to rest their foreheads together. He wanted this moment to never end._

_He opened his eyes to meet hers, warm and brown and tender. She put a hand on his chest, feeling the single, sturdy _human_ beats of his racing heart underneath her palm._

_"Doctor-" he whispered. His voice broke and he couldn't finish his sentence._

_"I'm not going to leave you either, John."_

_"How many worlds, Doctor," he asked, voice merely a breath "do you think are out there where we do get that happy ending?"_

_She smiled. "Right now, at least one."_

The dream, the wonderful dream, had quickly escalated into a nightmare after that, proving her last words to him to be lies. She had been right in the first place, there would never be a happy ending for them. He thrashed and sobbed as the dream took hold of him, dragging and pulling him away from her again. Rose, thankfully, woke him.

"John! John! Wake up! It's just a dream!"

"It's not! It's not! It's real! I'm never going to see her again!" he wailed.

He hadn't thought there were any more tears left in his body, but they came pouring out down his cheeks anyway. "Hey, shhh," Rose said, wrapping her arms around him and rocking him slightly. He buried his face in her shoulder and wept.

Rose held him, rubbing soothing circles on his back until his sobs had quieted. "There now," she said softly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Rose shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Here how about you get in the shower and I'll find you some clothes and then we can get some breakfast, all right?"

He nodded because he didn't know how to tell her he didn't want to shower or eat or do anything without sounding rude, especially after she just spent the last thirty minutes letting him sob on her shoulder.

He felt numb as he took the shower and numb when he saw the clothes she had left out for him. Jeans, a plain white T-shirt with a blue oxford to wear on top, and his converse. They were so dull looking, these clothes, he noted in a detached manner before dutifully putting them on and then aimlessly traveling down the hallways. The kitchen ended up being ridiculously close, however, which had not been his intention at all. He had more been hoping to wander around a bit and get lost so he could skip out on the whole thing altogether.

The...other man was there. His look-alike (He couldn't call him Doctor, could barely think of the name without it hurting). John hadn't seen the other man since he and Rose had first found him in this alternate London, confused and disoriented. Hadn't seen the Time Lord since he had explained to John that he couldn't bring him back to his home universe. That he was trapped here and that he would never be able see her again. That was when the other man had given him different options for settling down in this universe, none of which had seemed to include staying on the Tardis. Not until Rose had spoken up, for which he he had been grateful. Even if he said it was impossible, the Tardis was his absolute best chance of getting back to her. With that in mind, they couldn't have kicked him off if they had tried. His look-alike had agreed that he could stay, even though the decision seemed to strain him. John figured the other man didn't really want him here.

His look-alike was making tea, three mugs he noted, while Rose prepared a plate of toast. John sat down and put his head propped up in his hands and prepared for the most awkward meal of his life. A mug was placed unceremoniously in front of him and then the plate of toast was placed in the center, with a jar of marmalade to go with it. The other two sat down and each grabbed a slice of toast and began spreading the marmalade. Everything seemed so bloody normal, where John felt nothing would ever be normal again. It was making him sick and quickly he took a small sip of his tea, and promptly began to choke. It was so sweet.

"Oh, are you all right?" Rose asked him as he coughed and spluttered.

"Fine," he gasped. "The tea's...just really sweet."

Rose turned to glare at the other man. "Doctor," she started and John flinched, "how many sugars did you put in his tea?"

His look-alike looked sheepish. "As many as I put in mine."

"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed disapprovingly. John flinched again. "You put five sugars in your tea! What made you think he liked five sugars?"

The other man shrugged. "Don't know. He looks like me. Thought he might like the same kind of tea."

"He's human!" Rose exclaimed, rolling her eyes. John flinched yet again at the familiar words, feeling his eyes prick with tears as his mind was brought back to that glass room. "How many sugars do you want, John? I'll make it."

"It's fine," he whispered. Even their bantering was familiar and John thought he might throw up then and there all over the table at all the painful reminders of all he had lost. "I don't want tea." What he really wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

"Well, at least eat something," she said, her face concerned. "Have some toast."

"No, thank you," he declined. "I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something."

"Maybe later." Standing up, he quickly left the room before she could say anything else.

Days passed and Rose would stop by every morning to make sure he showered and dressed. She brought tea and toast for him along with other meals, even if he hardly touched them. She told him they could go on a trip if he wanted, but he didn't. She tried to get him to at least leave his room for awhile, but he wouldn't. Occasionally, she woke him up when he was sobbing and gasping from a nightmare (the same one, always the same one, where he is slipping and falling, and that last look of horror on her face as he's swallowed up, and the same nightmare he is still living day after day after day...)

He didn't see the other man again for awhile, he wasn't sure how long because he hardly bothered to keep track of the days, just like he hardly bothered to get out of bed at all. If it wasn't for Rose and her face that he couldn't bear to see and couldn't bear to not see, then he would probably never move again

He was sitting up against the head board staring at the wall when his look-alike...copy...clone (whatever he chose to think of him as on any particular day), came in. John had been staring blankly at the wall for the past three hours since Rose had made him get ready for the day, (whatever constituted as a day in this long, horrible nightmare). Staring at the wall in this basic room had become one of his favorite past times. Perhaps if he looked at the achingly familiar white wall across from him long enough it would open back up under his intense gaze and _take him back_. The other man, which he had barely spared a thought to, came to stand in front of his line of sight to the wall, hands shoved in his pockets, and John blinked, his staring contest with the wall interrupted.

"What are you doing?" the Time Lord asked him. John blinked again, trying to think of the best way to say, t_rying to open up this wall with my mind,_ without sounding too mental.

The man in front of him sighed, like he was disappointed in him. John could hardly care to remember his own name these days so he really couldn't find it in himself to care about whatever his parallel self was disappointed in him about.

"Look, I'd rather not be in here as much as I know you don't want me in here-" he started.

"Then, why are you here?" His voice was dull.

His parallel self sighed again. "Look I know your upset-" he started again and John cut him off once more with a dark look that said, "Don't."

"No, your going to listen now. I'll get to the point. You're upsetting Rose, and I won't allow that." He said it so simply and so protectively that John had to turn away so that he didn't risk the other man seeing him cry. How many times had that same look flashed in her eyes, defiant and protective and..._God, he missed her so much..._

John didn't know which was worse, Rose carrying her face, or this man in front of him, carrying all the same burdens and attributes that he had spent his whole time with her learning.

"Look," his look-alike started again with a heavy sigh. "Rose is upset. She refuses to leave the Tardis because she doesn't want to leave you alone. She's hardly been sleeping or eating because she's so worried. She's spent all her time trying to help you. I haven't seen her smile in _days_, and I simply won't have it any longer. I won't have you upsetting her with how miserable you are. There is nothing else now but to move on, hard as it may be, and trust me I know it is," he said, eyes sympathetic and understanding. Voice sincere. "But Rose doesn't need to be dragged down into this, into your grief."

With every word he spoke John couldn't help but feel the anger and hurt he had been trying so hard to bury, rise rapidly to the surface. He was fuming by the time the other man was done. He wanted nothing more than to yell and scream and finally vent about this whole fucking situation, because it was so fucking unfair. "Oh yeah," he hissed sarcastically. "I'm sure you would have moved on right away, yeah? If it had been Rose who had fallen into the void? Because that's what you do right? Move right on along to the next one." John had known_ her_ like the back of his hand, which meant he knew all the right buttons to press on this man in front of him to get a reaction.

The other man's eyes darkened. "That's not how it is and you know it. I understand that it's hard-"

"My whole life! My whole life has been taken from me!" he yelled, voice breaking on the words. The other brown-haired man's eyes softened.

"I'm sorry. If I could get you back I would. I've been trying, these last few weeks, but there's nothing I can do."

John felt all of his anger deflate and he immediately felt guilty for giving his look-alike such a hard time. All this time and this man had been trying to help him get back, and John had been nothing but an arse to him. And to Rose, who had been so kind, so good to him, taking care of him as he fell apart. His guilt increased tenfold, and he hung his head, feeling shameful. "I'm sorry," John said softly.

"I'm not saying it'll be easy, but you have to at least try. She wouldn't just want you to give up and you know that." John, without lifting his head, nodded, still feeling slightly ashamed. "You're right," he said quietly.

"And talk to Rose. Please. I can't stand to see her like this." The other man's face was pained and John felt another wave of guilt pass over him. He nodded again.

"Thank you."

The Time Lord turned to leave then hesitated at the door and turned back around. "There...might be, I don't want to get your hopes up, I still have to check over some things and get everything set up...but I might've found a way for you to see her again...talk to her again. Say goodbye."

With that the brown-haired man turned on his heel and left the room.


End file.
